For Ice Cream Has No Bones
by StrawberryCream
Summary: A random collection of Fanfiction stories I've written, none of which have any mention of bony ice cream. Each chapter is a different story, and they have nothing to do with one another, so the title has nothing to do with any of them.
1. Death Full Circle

**INUYASHA**

This was the original version of Death Full Circle. I have no idea why I called it that way back then, but it was called Death Full Circle when I put it up because the people kept coming back to life. Anyways, when I first started this, I just wrote the first paragraph, just the description of Inuyasha after he'd died. I'm not really sure why, but I wasn't angry at the world or anything, just in the mood to write something dark and sinister. I came back to it months later and liked the way I'd written it. I added to it, getting rather corny, and when I came back to it (this version), I thought it was really sad. But I still liked the first paragraph, so I rewrote things a little, then gave it a much better ending, taking out so many corny things. My favorite change was a toss up between Kikyo being wholly and truly unmentioned (cause I thought it was stupid to bring her into this) and the fact that Inuyasha actually truly dies. He doesn't come back in the real thing.

I think the really cool thing about this story is that I didn't change the first paragraph at all. Ever. The whole time, it was exactly as I wrote it that night. I changed some other things, did things different and less corny, took out Kikyo's pointless mention and really killed Inuyasha, but then by that point I already planned to bring him back. I might have done a spell-check, but that would have been the limits of my revision. The actually words and their order never changed.

God, this whole chapter makes me feel self-absorbed. This whole stupid **For Ice Cream Has No Bones** thing makes me feel self-absorbed, but I wanted to give you guys something, even if it wasn't very good and probably never went anywhere with itself.

Ending on this is stupid.

**Death Full Circle**

A fang was softly protruding past his lip. His eyes, half lidded, were blank and empty. Blood trickled down the side of his face, and his muscles were slumped in a way that surely meant death. His haori was torn and ripped, exposing most of his chest, and covered with blood. His hair would certainly be striped crimson forever, and his ears, as much as it pained her to note, didn't move at her call. He couldn't hear he, he wasn't moving, and he was covered in blood. Even she could peice together what all that meant. He would have called her stupid if she couldn't.

He won't be calling me stupid ever again...she thought. She could see the times when he had called her names, a scowl on his face. She could even remember those few times he'd smiled at her, the few times he'd said something nice without messing it up with some other comment.

She knew that if she didn't look away soon, this image of him would be forevert ingrained into her memory. But she couldn't look away. It didn't matter anyway; she'd never forget it.

She heard Sango and Miroku run into the clearing. She heard Sango gasp, and could practically see her hand move to her mouth. Miroku's staff clanged, and she could tell he'd dropped it. But she didn't care; she still wouldn't take her eyes off of Inuyasha.

Then she realized he was clutching something in his hands. She walked up slowly and kneeled beside him. Reaching down, she gently took it out of his fist. She fisted her own fingers around it a moment, but then she opened her hand to look at it.

It was a small ring, twisted golden and silver bands intertwined. On it was a small stone. It looked like rose quartz.

She raised it to her chest, clutching at it. She still couldn't cry. Her eyes were oddly dry. But she looked back at Inuyasha, and she saw something she hadn't noticed before...

Tied around his wrist was a small, white handkerchef. It was the one she'd let him borrow, making him promise not to get it dirty. Oddly enough, it was the only thing that wasn't covered in blood. She untied it and put it in her pocket.

"You kept your promise, Inuyasha." she whispered. She slid the ring onto her finger. "You didn't dirty the handkerchef..."

Her voice cracked as the previously bannished tears stole down her cheek, and her shoulders suddenly shook with frame-wracking sobs. She leaned her head back and screamed her sorrow into the sky. The sun was slowly setting; the night would come soon.

Through all the racket she was making, she heard Sango take a step towards her, and cried harder. Her friend stopped, a tear slinking down her own cheek.

"Oh, Kagome..." she whispered, and Miroku put a hand around her shoulder. She turned to cry into his chest.

Kagome's howls turned more animalistic the longer she cried. Soon she sounded like a youkai in every aspect. Sango and Miroku would have sworn it was youki - it was sure behaving like it - if they didn't know it was her miko aura whipping around their friend. They were becoming increasingly aware of youkai surounding them. Then Kouga apeared, and he actually looked sorrowfully down at Inuyasha's body from the other end of the clearing, though it was probably Kagome he was looking at. He was the only one who dared come into the clearing at all.

He made as if to walk over to her, and her aura lashed out. It didn't touch him, but it was enough to cause him to slide back into the shadows, his eyes continuing to watch, wide, alarmed, and sad, too.

Another youkai slid into the clearing a while later. The silver-haired, full inu youkai didn't try to advance on her as Kouga had, but what reason did Sesshomaru have to come closer, anyway? He didn't try to take Tetsusaiga, either. Stepping anywhere near Kagome would probably have killed him.

"I am sorry for this. You were to be his mate, too." he said quietly, but Kagome heard him. That didn't mean she'd stopped crying, though. "I have stopped trying to kill my brother. If you would like, I will put you under my protection and in my household. It is a sad day when a woman is deprived her love." The last part went unheard.

Eventually Kagome stopped crying. Kouga was still watching from the shadows, Sesshomaru still standing in the clearing. Sango was still leaning against Miroku, and Kagome just stared in sorrow at Inuyasha, her hand clutched at her chest. The ring was always to be close to her heart.

Sesshomaru left after a while, and so did Kouga (only after trying to get close to her again and nearly getting blown to bits - twice).

**(A/N: Sorry to stop you in the middle, but I just wanted to say my portayal of Sesshomaru is dead wrong and makes him sound like an idiot - not the icy fluffy I know and kinda love! Plus, I made Kouga an unrelenting idiot. Both of them have no place in this story, so I'm glad I took them out in the end. Glad I took that whole stupid scene out, actually. And I'm so glad I decided to kill Miroku and Sango in the real one. It gave them a much more authentic impression, because their deaths had to be realistic and personal. That's the only way Naraku would do it in my writing, anyway. They're wallpaper here, and I hate it...Okay, I'll leave you alone now.)**

Kagome suddenly looked over to the now rising sun as a figure came towards her. Miroku and Sango couldn't see who it was, but Kagome could.

"Naraku." she spat, eyes as hard as ice. She stood up as he touched down onto the ground. "Did you do this, Naraku? Did you kill him?" she asked. It came out sounding almost like an innocent question, deceptively calm. Naraku didn't show it, but the tone in her voice put him on edge.

"Of course it was me, dear. Now that I am without Onigumo, I am so much more powerful then your little hanyou." he said, smiling.

"I will kill you!" she hollered, her shoulders shaking in rage. "I will kill you for what you did to him! You will pay with your life! "

Naraku, being a total fool, walked up to her. "No, dear, I think not. You are too weak."

Kagome was thinking ahead, so as he stepped closer she lashed in her aura so it didn't touch him. If it did, he'd never...

He reached out a hand and grasped her cheek. "My, aren't we a beauty," he said, turning her head side to side, ignoring the hatred in her eyes. "I should have taken you for my own long ago."

He reached out to wrap an arm around her waist. It was within centimeters of touching her skin when she mentally shouted NOW!

She wrapped her hand around the wrist of his hand which touched her face, her other hand coming up to hold flat before his chest. A surprised look crossed his face, and before he could mask it, she let her aura shoot through the roof. It blew him back - or it would have, but seeing as he had an arm almost around her waist, it totaly blasted that arm to flecks of dust. He landed about ten feet away from her, his other hand gone from the point where she'd held it on down. He was covered in a layer of burnt youkai flesh, but quickly shook it off as much as he could.

Kagome raised her hand to her bow and pulled it up, notching an arrow. The arrow and bow glowed from her power. She glowed from her power.

She drew back the arrow.

She aimed at Naraku.

Narku's eyes widened in fear.

Kagome's eyes slitted in disgust.

"Die..." she whispered.

She released the arrow, closing her eyes. The arrow went strait at Naraku. It didn't just enlarge like it usually did - this time the magic that encirlced it was at least ten feet in diameter, and it totally annihalated Naraku as it hit.

Then several things happened at once. One, as Naraku was being destroyed, Miroku's hand glowed, and a sharp pain flowed out from it. Then it was gone, and in the place of his kazaana's usually empty cold, there was a warmth as his own flesh took it's place. Then Kagome began to glow again. She cried out as her aura shot a pillar into the sky. The almost-full Shikon Jewel that hovered where Naraku had been soared up to the top of the pillar, and Miroku's jewel shards shot out of the clothe of his robes to join them. Something glinted around Kagome's neck a moment before following the path of her aura to the rest of the Shikon Jewel.

Miroku knew what it meant. Kagome was calling Naraku's peice of the jewel, and the larger peice was calling his and Kagome's peices. Other peices flew in from around the clearing - no doubt those belonging to other youkai which they hadn't gotten yet - but only a few.

The jewel dropped back down to Kagome's hand, completed, after a moment. Kagome blinked. Was it just her or was the jewel larger? Now it was the size of her palm, the size of a fist. Had she put her own energy into it? Or had it somehow obsorbed other energy from all those other youkai it had inhabitted?

She didn't really care. She stumbled over to Inuyasha's body and held the jewel out to him.

"There, Inuyasha. You can have the jewel, like I promised." she whispered to him as she set the jewel onto his lap. "But I wish that you were alive to enjoy it. And I wish there was someway we could stay here together."

The jewel pulsed. "I will grant your wish." it said.

"W-what?" Kagome asked.

"I will grant your wish." it said again. "You have given me so much more power, and have protected me for so long, so I will grant your wish. Or rather, wishes. You were speaking to this hanyou, correct?"

"Yes." Kagome said quietly.

"Is that all you wish?"

"I-I suppose. I'm not...I think maybe Inuyasha might want something. Could you grant him a wish, too, if he wants one?" Kagome asked, keeping her focus on the jewel, not on Inuyasha. Not on his too-still face, or his blood-stained hair, or his ripped haori...Not on Inuyasha.

"Very well, if you like. Now, for the hanyou." The jewel glowed. It floated up over Inuyasha's heart, where his haori was torn. Kagome wanted to look away, but once her eyes had fallen on his body...she couldn't.

The jewel glowed ever brighter, and Kagome could have sworn she saw one of the spheres of light that is a soul fall over Inuyasha before the light was too bright to see. The flash faded rapidly, though, and Kagome watched Inuyasha for a tense moment, waiting for something. She didn't know what she was waiting for, but then, when his chest moved slightly in breath - in life - she was overjoyed.

"Oh, Inuyasha!" she cried, throwing herself over his body. He grunted beneath her, and that only made her happier.

"Oi, Kagome, would you get off me?" he asked a little defensivly, but she thought she heard a hint of happiness within all of that roughness. He stiffened at the scent of tears. "Hey, what's wrong? Kagome?...Woa, wait a minute...Kagome, I...didn't I...Didn't I die?"

Kagome nodded, pressing her face against his chest. "Yeah." she whispered.

"Then what's going on?" Inuyasha wrapped his arms around her at the movement. "Naraku...I know I'm dead. We aren't both dead, are we!"

Kagome sat up, and she smiled at him. "No, Inuyasha," she said. "We aren't both dead."

"Then what's going on?"

"You're alive. I-I revived you with the Shikon no Tama. I...The jewel can grant a wish for you, now, too." she said, another tear making it's way down her cheek. "What do you want?"

"I...Do you know what happened to Kikyo?" he asked. He didn't miss the hurt looked that crossed her features.

"No, I don't." she said in a hollow voice.

"She is still wondering the earth." the Shikon Jewel replied.

Inuyasha took a deep breath. "Then I know what to wish for."

Kagome knew the jewel could bring back the dead. It had brough back Inuyasha, after all. She just didn't want him to do this. She knew he would wish to live with Kikyo - he would always choose Kikyo over herself. So she turned away from him, and let her tears fall.

"I wish that Kikyo could finally rest in peace, and pass on to the afterlife. She deserves that much, at least." Inuyasha whispered behind her.

Kagome turned back. His eyes were closed, and his expression was hurt. She reached out her arm to place it on his shoulder. He opened his eyes to look at her.

"Don't you want to live with her?" Kagome asked quietly.

"No. She's dead - you're alive. She was close to me, true...but I love you." he said, and he stood up, dragging her to her feet as well.

Kagome's eyes filled with tears. She threw her arms around him and sobbed. "Oh, Inuyasha, I love you, too."


	2. Demon Prince

**INUYASHA**

This was kinda interesting. I got three chapters done with this, and I like the feel. But it was going no where fast, so I ended up dropping it. I like the way I portrayed everyone, though. A tad dry sometimes, but hey, I was a sixth grader when I wrote this. Not the greatest author in the world, but I could take some tips from a younger me, even if my grammatical sense has improved.

**First Danger**

Kagome was in the Central Tower, looking out to the west, and she smiled at the sky. It was the sort of bluish green that came before the sky became pink during a glorious sunset. She was wearing a long, blue dress, with a darker bluish-purple sash. Her long black hair was done up in a thick braid, and strands of silver and pale blue ribbon were braided into it as well. She also had a few cherry blossoms tucked away on the right side, which you could see from the front.

"Lady Kagome?" said a voice from the entryway into the staircase.

"Yes Sango?" Kagome asked as the young woman, who was just a little older then her, walked over to the railing beside her, and leaned against it as well. She was wearing a dress in the darker shades of green, and her hair was done into a sort of spiral bun on the back of her head. It was rather plain, but fancy too, at the same time. She was the daughter of the knight that her father trusted the most, and they had become good friends.

"The sunset is beautiful tonight." she said slowly. "Will you go again?"

"I believe I will." Kagome said with a sigh, closing her eyes. "Tomorrow is my birthday. I have to get rid of this stress, and riding is calming. Would you like to go with me? But wait, tonight is a full moon, isn't it?" she said with a laugh. "You wouldn't leave this castle unless the werewolves came in."

"It isn't just the myths of the moon, Kagome!" Sango said quickly. "Demons attack on the nights of full moons, you know. I just try to avoid them."

"I suppose. But where is Kirara?" Kagome asked, looking around.

"She's back in my room-" Sango started, but was cut off by a mewing sound from the stairs. "-I mean, she's in the stairwell." she corrected with a laugh.

Looking back, Kagome saw the slim streaks of clouds that fell over the sky had turned pink tinted gold, and the sky was a pink that faded into a sort of purple higher up, and then the nightly blue. The longer she watched, the more gold tinted the sky became, and the less apparent the blue was. Then the golden clouds turned to an orangey pink, and the sky was enveloped in the purple. The clouds became more pink as time passed, the purple growing darker, slowly changing into the blackish blue that cloaked the stars at night.

"Well, Sango, I'm going to go now." Kagome said, as her friend walked down the stairs. She stopped to pull on her long, midnight blue cloak, which came up and covered all of her hair, and grab her bow and a quiver of arrows, since she was a fairly good shot.

The stars were out already, and the moon lit the stables as she sneaked out to them.

Opening the door, she leaned in and called gently, "Lunau? Lunóütaíriji?" as she walked in softly.

There was a quiet sound from one of the stalls. It was a horse, and she was white, spotted with soft gray, making her look like slightly tarnished, but still beautiful, silver.

Kagome smiled, and pulled the horse from the stall. She was already saddled, - Sota knew of her little trips - so all she had to do was leave.

She sighed, mounted her horse, and rode off into the forest, letting the bright light from the moon guide her.

She pulled the small gem from around her neck. It was pretty, a soft, pale blue, and it started to glow softly. Kagome sighed. It did that often. Her mother had given it to her, and every once in a while, it would glow softly, but usually right before a group of demons attacked her home. Now it glowed every full moon, and almost every other week besides, so she didn't think it was because they were under attack.

Suddenly her head shot up. She'd thought she'd heard something. Looking around, she realized she didn't know which way was back to the castle. And then she heard a laugh, a whistling sound, and hoof beats. Her eyes flashed in fear as she realized that they were behind her, and she turned to run, but then noticed they were in front of her, too. Her breath quickened.

"Hey, girlie. What are you doing out here at night?" one of the men asked. They were almost all on horses. "And what's with that horse?" He eyed her quiver of arrows on her back.

"Eh, Leader, I bet she stole it from the Castle. She was running away from it." another man said, and the 'leader' laughed.

"Hah, hah, hah! You're probably right!" And he walked up to her, leaping off his horse. He pulled out a dagger, and it's blade glinted in the moonlight. His horse jumped, and the long dagger went through it's chest. She winced at the sound of the cracking bones of the horse's ribs.

"Aw, what a shame. Now we have to take your horse, girlie. But you stole it anyway, right? So it's legal to return it to the King, and they'll probably give us a new horse!" He roared with laughter again.

Kagome started to shake. "No!" she cried, pulling Lunau's reins, and charging her forward. She heard the disgusting splatter of blood as the dagger impaled another of the 'leader's' subjects, but she kept going. Nothing would stop her...she hoped.

Obtain Rescue

The young man walked around the forest. He had a long, deep red cloak over him, so you couldn't see his face. But he stopped, and pulled the hood back, and looked up at the full moon, letting his silver hair show. He inhaled the air around him, and then breathed out.

He jerked, and turned. There! He sniffed again, and caught a scent of the young woman he'd smelled faintly before. She smelled scared, and she smelled of death.

He was in a small clearing, and also on a path. The young woman on the horse pulled out onto the path, and was headed towards him, but her horse sensed him, frightened, and reared away, throwing her forward. She would have landed on the ground, but the young man caught her. She leaned heavily against him, not noticing the way her horse backed away in fear. She was breathing heavy.

He leaned forward slightly and sniffed her. The scent of death was just then settling on her, as if she'd walked through it unintentionally. But she sure had been scared. Because she looked up at him with silvery purple-blue eyes that were full of fear and desperation. "Help me." she whispered.

Just then a group of men ran onto the path, some on horses, some not. The man in front was so startled to see the woman clinging to the man, he stopped short.

But he quickly recovered. "Thank you for catching that wench. She stole my horse, so I had to borrow one from my comrades. And she belongs to us; she was trying to run away. Again." he added, almost as an afterthought.

The young man whom the girl was clinging to looked up when she huddled farther against him at the word 'wench'. 'She's scared of these men, who aren't all that dangerous, but not of me, who could kill her in the blink of an eye? ' he thought, turning to stare at her again. But he pushed those thoughts away quickly. She was scared, and he felt like helping her.

"I think not." he said. "She belongs to no one, of that I am sure." he said, and he was sure. "And you wreak of death; she merely seems to have passed by it. You have killed all your life, and she saw death for the first time a few moments ago. She is not yours."

"That's not true. My mother's dead." she muttered.

But he continued. "And she has stolen nothing. Yet." he added with a smirk as a few ideas popped into his head at the sight of her bow and arrows.

"Ah . . . ah . . . how do you know all that?" the man asked, not even trying to deny it; there was something about this man that made every single one of his instincts scream to run, especially at the smirk on his face. But the girl wasn't running, so neither would he.

The young man snarled. "Can you not feel it?" he asked. "Can you not feel it in the wind, in the light, in the very earth that I am dangerous? This woman cannot, which surprises me, but still . . . Weren't you ever told not to walk around alone at night? Especially under a full moon? Can't you tell I'm a demon?"

The group gasped, and went to run, but not before the leader turned to aim an arrow at the young woman's back. The demon caught it quickly, and realized that the woman had fallen asleep somewhere around after she'd said her mother was dead. Good. She could go longer without knowing, then.

But the man couldn't get away. He was angry that he had tried to kill this woman, and although he didn't know why . . . frankly, he didn't care. He raised his arm, and swept his long claws at the man, who fell down, dead.

Kagome blinked. She was in a room, and she was on a soft bed. How had she gotten here? The last thing she could remember was that strange man saving her from those bandits last night. She shuddered. They had been about to kill her. And they thought they wouldn't have gotten in trouble for it, because she had stolen the horse from the royal stables.

Sitting up, she looked around. She was in a room with only one door and no window. The door was simply a clothe hung from the frame. She realized with a gasp that the bed she was on was made out of the wall, and the blankets were very thin things - not that she minded, though. Sometimes she would spend a week in the woods to get away from the so-called 'luxuries' of being a princess. But - she looked down to notice she was wearing that fine blue dress, and it wasn't ripped or torn yet - she usually wore more suitable clothes then this.

"Why, good morning, sleeping beauty." said a voice from the direction of the 'door'. Kagome turned to see a man standing there. It was the same one from last night, and he was leaning against the door frame. "Mind telling me why those men wanted you back so badly?"

"They were bandits, and they wanted my horse. By the way, where is Lunóütaíriji?" Kagome asked, looking past the man to see another room.

"I take it that's your horse's name?"

"Yeah, Lunau's what I call her."

"She's just outside." the man replied. 'She's talking about it so nonchalantly, I don't believe she stole it. And it's got a name, too.' he thought.

"And where are we?" Kagome asked, swinging her lags over the edge of the bed.

"Um, just a little 'hut' I built into the side of the riverbank. Well, my father built it, but it's mine now." he said, walking over to help her walk, but she didn't look like she needed that much help.

"The river?" she asked. "Which river? I know three that have large enough banks."

"The river Mallia. It's right outside." He was almost staring at her. After he'd taken off that cloak last night, and seen the fancy dress, he'd guessed she was a court lady. But she didn't act like one. He'd heard that ladies in the king's court were 'frail' and 'fragile', but this girl was neither. She seemed strong to him, and she didn't look disgusted by the rather poor condition of his house.

"Oh, I've never seen Mallia! Could I get a look at it?" she went and walked around him, coming close enough to prove that she wasn't disgusted by him, but staying far enough away to give him some personal space. And she walked out into the front room, glancing around before she walked out.

There was a wooden table in the center, and to the left, from where she was, was a fire pit, some animal roasting there. There was another door, she saw when she turned around, and it was to the left of hers from there. It was rather small a place, and it seemed almost rugged, but she liked it.

"Your home is nice." she said as she walked out the front door, which was on the opposite wall as the room she had started in. And she stopped there, the door swinging shut behind her. The man ran to catch up with her. He found her staring at the river. It was the biggest river in the whole country of Nigaragi, and also the biggest on the whole continent of Tou Yii.

Kagome stared at it. It was beautiful, but something about the name twitched in the back of her mind. Mallia, Mallia, Mallai . . . It felt like she'd heard it before. "Mallia. It is the largest river on the continent," she could hear her professor saying, "and it is a fair ways into the country of Nigaragi. It is safe to assume that you will never see this river, as Nigaragi, as you all know, is the country of demons."

Kagome stepped back. Demons? Was she in the country of demons? Then, did that mean . . . She turned back to the man. Yes, there was something about him, and she knew he was a demon. But she still wasn't scared of him, which frightened her.

Meeting

The man smelled the fear leak into her scent when she turned to face him, and he saw her realize what this meant. But he didn't want her to be scared. "Now, wait-"

"You're a demon, aren't you?" she asked, surprisingly calm for how scared she smelled. All he could do was nod. He realized she was almost shaking. "You saved me from those bandits, and yet you are a demon yourself. Why? And who are you?"

"I . . . I don't know." he admitted. "But my name is Inuyasha. What's yours?"

His name was familiar too. Was he some wild mass murderer that even the King of Nigaragi couldn't control? Or some warlord that was planning to overthrough Hontiu? Why did his name stand out? The only reason demon's names stood out was for some violent act like that, or..."Inuyasha is the prince, the son of the demon king, Kanishiu. He is the second son, and his older brother Sesshomarou will gain the throne before he does." she said slowly, remembering her studies of the history of Tou Yii.

Inuyasha was taken aback by her recital of his heritage. "Yes," he said cautiously. "That's right; now what's your name?"

Kagome looked up. "My name is Kagome Higurashi, of the Higurashi Dynasty of Hontiu. My mother was Queen Anme, and my father is King Konti. My younger brother, Sota, he will become king when my father dies."

"Uh...that explains the dress...and the horse...and how you know my family background...But why aren't you running away? You're scared of me, I can smell it." He blinked. Maybe she figured if she ran, he would eat her, or kill her sooner. "I'm not going to eat you, you know."

"I know." she replied calmly. "And I'm not scared of you. That's why I'm scared. Because you don't frighten me in the least, and that's wrong. Well, you frighten me no more then my suitors, least." She shuddered. "But that's not saying too much."

"Suitors?" Inuyasha asked. 'Her father is trying to hook her up? '

"My father lined up suitors for me after Mother died. I don't know how Father figured I needed to get married. But he intends to get me hitched." Kagome shook her head, turning back to the river. Then she looked back down to her clothes, recalled the map of Tou Yii she'd been forced to study, and frowned.

"We're so far from the castle. Do you think you could take me back?" she asked.

Inuyasha's heart sank, but he wasn't sure why. 'She wants to go home? Back to all her suitors, I'll bet. She might as well be betrothed. Oh no! What if she already is! Wait, what difference does that make? I could still do whatever I want with her. Not that there's...er...anything I want to do...' "Why?"

"Oh, I just want to change clothes. These make me feel too nervous, like royalty will walk in any moment." she said, indicating her clothes. "I don't feel like going back. Not today. Too hectic." Then she turned to him and asked. "Do you mind if I stay here? I don't want to get stuck in that castle right now."

"Um, no, I guess not . . . " He smiled hesitantly.

"Good. Thank you." she said with a smile, returning her gaze to the river.

Inuyasha sighed. He didn't know what he was going to do with this one.

"Well, let's go." Inuyasha said an hour later. "We want to get there soon."

Kagome nodded. She watched in amazment as Inuyasha crouched down before her, and motioned with his hands for her to climb onto his back. She stared at him a moment, before shrieking, "Oi! No way! Gomen nasai, Inuyasha, but I am not going to get on your back!"

Inuyasha looked back over his shoulder. "Of course you are. Unless you plan to spend three hours hiking to the other bank of Mallia, and then six hours to the castle. I always thought humans were odd, but even you can't be that dense."

"Bu-bu-but!" she tried to protest, before giving up to the smirk that dominated the demon-prince's face. "All right, fine."

As she climbed on, she coudn't help but wonder why he seemed pleased that she climbed onto his back willingly, though grudgingly. 'Is it a demon thing, or an Inuyasha thing? God, I hope it's just him.'

Blushing, she ducked her head into his flying hair, and felt the grip he had on her thighs flex. But she couldn't see the purely ecstatic look that crossed his features.

"Are you sure you can just waltz in and come out without getting noticed?" Inuyasha asked her again. He was more nervous then she was.

"Yes, I'm sure." Kagome said again. "Sango knows I want to get out of the castle. She won't keep me couped up in this hellish place any longer then necessary."

"And we can trust Sango?" Inuyasha asked.

Kagome looked over to him, surprised. "Of course we can trust Sango! She's my best friend, baka, and she'd push me out the door if I tried to stay even though I didn't want to."

Inuyasha nodded resignedly, and hung his head. They were seated on the edge of the bank of Tiuitu, the river closest to the castle, behind the shrubbery. "Well, if you're sure...Let's go."

Kagome nodded, and mounted his back again before they lept over the river.

"Inuyasha," she whispered into the demon's ear. "Inuyasha, can you leap up to that tall tower? The one in the center, the biggest?"

A grumble can up through the back of his shirt. "Dammit, I can't fly! But yeah, I can get you up there. Somehow..."

Kagome was about to say she didn't like the sound of that, when Inuyasha took a flying leap from where they had been, at the base of the outermost wall, and hopped from the lower roof-tops to the higher ones, slowly making his way up.

"Just don't fall!" Kagome cried, clutching his shoulders.

"I would never!" Inuyasha called back, and soon they were on the balcony of the Central Tower.

Kagome slid down from Inuyasha's back, walking into her room. "Remind me never to leave my balcony unlocked at night again." she said, walking over to the drawers by the opposite wall.

Pulling out some material, she turned back and swished he hands at him. "Shoo, shoo. I've got to change, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha hastily turned his back to her, but when he heard the rustle of clothe, he turned back. He was lucky enough that she had her back to him, but he could see all of her gracious curves from his current position...

He had to fist his hands to physically restrain himself from running in and catching her by the shoulders, or hips...'What am I thinking? My god! But she's just so...ah...out of my reach.'

He turned his back on her again, plopping down onto the balcony, when he heard a slide as the door was pulled open. He glanced over his shoulder - careful to keep his eyes away from where Kagome was still dressing - and caught sight of a young woman. A growl began to form low and deep in his chest, until he heard Kagome's startled, overjoyed cry.

"Sango!" She ran to hug the older girl, and Inuyasha turned away again.

"Oh, Lady Kagome!" Sango cried. "When you did not come back this morning, the guard began to worry. And - oh! Kagome, who is that!"

Inuyasha twiched, and his ears flexed back towards them, making them fully visible to the intruding woman. "Oi, bitch, are you done yet?"

"K-kagome! There's a demon on your balcony!" Sango cried. Kagome sighed.

"Yes, Inuyasha. You can turn around now." she said.

Inuyasha did. "Boy, you're much more observant than the bitch." he said to Sango. "I had to tell her I lived on the banks of Mallia before she figured it out."

"Don't speak of m'lady like that!" Sango yelled. "Kagome! Why is there a demon on your balcony!" he said, turning to her lady.

"Inuyasha brought me back to get some other clothes besides the gown I was wearing before. He said I could stay in his home on Mallia until all this excitment is over." she said, walking slowly over to Inuyasha to drag him into the room.

"Sango, this is Inuyasha. Inuyasha, this is Sango. I told you of her, remember?" Kagome recited.

"I'm a demon, not an idiot." Inuyasha said, shaking his head.

"Same thing!" Sango hollered. Kagome put up her hands to keep the two apart.

"Sango, stop. I'm going to stay with Inuyasha until this business is over." Kagome said.

Sango looked at her, shocked. "But Kagome! It's your birthday! You can't just run out on this!"

Inuyasha turned to her. "It's your birthday? And why didn't you tell me this was why you wanted to stay away?"

"Ah, I didn't want to." Kagome said, turning back to Sango. "And of course I can. I'm going to. You tell them I'm with a friend, but don't say who. Tell them you don't know, it doesn't matter," she instructed, hoisting the yellow pack she'd packed her clothes in onto her shoulder, and walking over to stand behind Inuyasha. "Come on, Inuyasha, let's go."

Inuyasha smirked at Sango, and hoisted Kagome onto his back again. Then he leapt out the window and off the balcony.


	3. Camp Guardian

**INUYASHA**

No clue what I was doing, but it was a decent length and not half bad as my writing goes, so I decided to add it in.

**Camp Guardian**

Inu-Yasha sank his teeth into the apple in his hands.

"Hey, you got one of those for me?" Kagome asked, looking up.

"Sure." Inu-Yasha said, tossing the second apple across the room. "I just happened to grab two. Now, what was this I heard about a demon on the campsite?"

Kagome looked back up from the computer, apple clenched in her teeth. She reached up and plucked the apple from her mouth, leaning back in her comfortable chair. "Well, there was a report of a man that came into the girl's cabin, and happened upon a room filled with a slumber party of girls. Room 16. Those girls said he had longer hair, but some said it was black and some said it was white and some said gray. They all said that his eyes glowed red, and he was kind of...glowing. Sort of a greeny-yellow glow.

"They could see his...long claws, and one or two said he had horns. Some noticed long fangs, and he was growling and screaming at the same time. He started destroying the beds with his claws, and attacked some of the girls' items, but for the most part left them alone.

"They said that one of the girls had said he was hurt, and had walked up to him. He had run then, and she'd followed. Now she's gone."

Inu-Yasha gulped. His face was suddenly grim. "What did she look like?" he asked.

Kagome went back to her computer, and clicked a few times. Then she motioned for Inu-Yasha to come closer and look at the screen. He did.

On the screen was a small file, opened. It had some information about the girl, but what caught Inu-Yasha's eyes first was her picture. It was of a child, with chocolatey brown hair. She was smiling, and she had brown eyes as well. After a few moments of staring at the image, he scanned her profile, looking for her name. There! Nakari, Rin.

"Damn." Inu-Yasha cursed, putting his own hand on the mouse, and dispite Kagome's cries of protest, leaned over so he could see the screen better, and ending up getting squished between Kagome's chest and her computer desk, but not noticing.

He flipped through her history, looking for something. He obviously didn't find it, because his hand went lax, and he began muttering to himself. "I don't see a relation...no connection...but...It has to be her! He wouldn't do it for anyone else!"

"Um, Inu-Yasha? What's going on?" Kagome asked from behind him. Inu-Yasha half turned around so that he could face her, but he didn't move.

"He did it again." Inu-Yasha said, as if that explained everything. "He came back for her. She looked just like this little girl, and her name was Rin, too. She was about eight...I'll never forget that. I never forgave him for killing her. She was so young..." He shook his head.

"Inu-Yasha..." Kagome said, face turning red both from a blush and anger. "Can I please have my personal space back?"

Inu-Yasha blinked, and then blushed, stepping back quickly. He cleared his throat, straightening his shirt and brushing some piece of invisible hair away.

"Well, back to this. What do you MEAN!" Kagome cried. "I DON'T UNDERSTAND! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!"

Inu-Yasha looked up, still confused. Then a light clicked behind his eyes, and he shook his head. "Oh yes, that's right, you weren't born yet. And you haven't ever met my brother. You better thank whatever gods you worship for that." he said.

"I think I'll thank god later. Now EXPLAIN."

"Well, I think we'd better leave the camp first." Inu-Yasha said, grabbing her wrist and dragging her out the door. Once they were outside, he picked her up in his arms, and went running off into the forest around them.

Quite a while later, he stopped, letting her back to the ground. She instantly fell to her knees, and Inu-Yasha dropped to a cross-legged position.

'What was that?' Kagome thought, her hand on her heart. 'I didn't know anyone could go so fast! And while he was carrying someone, too! ' She looked at Inu-Yasha in awe.

Inu-Yasha was watching her intently. Almost as if...almost as if he was waiting to hear her opinion of something. Something that was important to him.

"Yes?" she asked, wanting to know what was so important to him.

"Are you scared of me yet?" Inu-Yasha asked. Kagome winced at his voice. It sounded...almost scared, or maybe hurt. As soon as she moved, she regretted it, because she saw the wounded look that flickered behind Inu-Yasha's eyes. But it was gone in a second.

She didn't want him to feel that pain. She leaned forward and lifted her hand up to delicately touch his cheek. "Why would I ever be scared of you?" she asked, her voice clearly showing that she was speaking the truth.

Inu-Yasha looked away at her sincerety. 'I don't want to tell her...she'll just run away. But I want her to know, because somewhere deep down, I'm sure I still want to be accepted.' "Because of who I am."

Kagome laughed. "Unless you were some kind of evil assasin out to murder me, I don't think you could ever scare me. Not like that."

Inu-Yasha wanted that to be true, but..."I'm worse."

Kagome looked intently into his eyes. "Are you going to kill me?" she asked, still not really sounding scared. Not like she should be.

Inu-Yasha looked at her startled. "No, never! I wouldn't hurt you!"

"I know that, but you're acting like you would. Like you have to." Kagome smiled again.

"I wouldn't be smiling, Kagome." Inu-Yasha said sadly. "Because I could kill you. I could kill you so very easily."

Kagome's smile never faultered. "But you wouldn't." she stated. "As long as I know you won't, I don't care if you can. But really, I knew you could kill me already. Is that all you came out here to tell me?"

Inu-Yasha reared back a bit. "How...what..." he asked, unable to complete a sentance.

Kagome cocked her head to the side. "Something about the way you acted around me...You were always so very careful, almost like...you wanted to prove to someone that you didn't have to hurt me."

Inu-Yasha smiled. "You know too much." he said. Then his smile faded. "But not enough."

"Explain." Kagome said for probably the umpteenth time that day.

Inu-Yasha looked away. He closed his eyes, steeling himself for what had to be done. He pulled off his base-ball cap, and ruffled at his hair. He kept it spiked, so that even if someone stole his cap off his head, that wouldn't be able to see...

"Ohmigod." Kagome gasped. But she didn't sound scared, just...surprised. "Inu...Inu...yasha, you...You have dog ears on top of your head!"


	4. Chaotic

**INUYASHA  
**I liked the scenes in this, but not the last ones. The only reason I didn't take it out is because that's most of the story! It bugs me, though, so you don't have to read it if you don't want to. I'd recomend skimming, though.

**It's Chaotic, For The Record**

"Kagome?" a kind voice called up the stairs of the home. "Kagome, dinner's ready!"

A little boy poked his head in the door of her room. "Hey, Sis, did you hear? Dinner's ready." he said before running back out of the room. Kagome glanced out her window.

"Why do I feel like I don't belong here?" she muttered to herself. "I get good grades without hardly trying, and nothing ever really happens. It's not that I'm complaining about that!" she hurriedly amended to the air as she watched the stars. She frowned. "I just...I just feel that my life around here isn't the way destiny wanted it to be. Like my real life is a little more interesting."

Turning, she walked from the room and down the hall, not noticing the star that winked out, shooting across the sky for less then an instant.

"Look, Miroku, there is nothing going on between Sango and me." Inuyasha said for the hundredth time in as many days. He let his gaze go heavenward. "Why does everyone think I'm going out with their girlfriends?" he muttered.

Sango strode up beside them. "It's just your cool demeanor." she said, handing him his glasses and helmet.

Miroku sighed. "Okay, Inuyasha, I guess I can let you go." he murmured. Then her brightened. "Well, good luck." he said, clasping his age-old friend on the back. "If you succeed, who knows what wonders will befall you."

He said this while watching two beautiful physicists walk by, causing both of the remaining occupants of the vator shaft to mutter 'pervert'.

"But serriously, Inuyasha, if they do send you lightyears across the universe - and if they don't they may well die trying - you'll be famous." Sango said, helping him put on his helmet.

"I know. I'm not in it for the glory though, you know." He tugged on his gloves. "I'm only in it to get my mom out of jail." he said, putting his glasses over his eyes.

"Inuyasha Kantana, please come to the main hall, Inuyasha Kantana, please come to the main hall for transport." a voice called over the speaker.

"Inuyasha, are you ready?" another asked in his earpeice.

"Good to go." he replied into the speaker.

"You know that if you don't come right back, we're gonna get sent halfway across the galaxy, too." Miroku said from his side, watching another pair of cute girls walk by. "And unless this planet your on is some type of Amazonian-ruled place, you're dead. Ouch, Sango! That hurt!"

"It was supposed to." she replied, hefting her boomerang back onto her back. "Don't act like that. Pretty soon, thank's to Inuyasha, we're all going to be headed for some tropical planet vacation hotspot."

"Lady hotspot would -" He cut off at Sango's look.

"Inuyasha? Are you coming?" the voice in his earpeice asked again.

"Yeah, Namari. Come on, guys. Let's go." He led them out onto the open-aired path to the main hall, where the transport would take place.

Soon Inuyasha was standing before a metal sphere. The dark, almost black metal had only one opening large enough to squeeze through, even though it was made of metal bars that crossed, leaving lots of gaps.

"This here is the transport sphere." the captain said to him, walking up. Her heels clipped on the steel of the ground. "Climb on in, Inuyasha." she commanded

"Sure thing, Captain Namari." Inuyasha said. "But one more thing. What's the name of the vessel?" he asked. He knew Namari loved to name her ships and such; he had known her a long time.

"It's the Dragonsphere. Yours is, anyway. Theirs is Lightning and Black, respectably." she said, beaming.

Inuyasha climbed in. "I get the money for doing this, not finding something, right?" he asked.

"Right."

"Okay. Let's go." He closed his eyes, and the unnatural sleep of presurving gasses overcame him.

He'd been training since he was eight. He was a warrior. He could battle with almost any type of weapon, and his reflxes had been dubbed perfect by the emperor when he was ten. He could fly most any plane, man almost any machine.

He was strong, and handsome, and he knew people high up. His father, who had come from another planet, had been friends with the emporer before he died, and he'd also been a captian in the army. His mother had been a rich lady on her own home planet, and had befriended the emporer's wife before she became pregnant with him. In short, he was perfect. Perfect life, rich family, and connections.

He might have been rather rude and tactless, but most people overlooked that in favor of seeing his money and his friends' money.

He hated that.

"She thinks she's so perfect, with that rich husband of hers." the maids would say.

Before Raino Kantana died, Lady Etko was admired, but hated behind her back. She knew it, though her husband didn't.

Her little boy was born, and about a year later, her husband was killed in battle. That battle had been the last one, for the enemy had given in, and had been their only enemy.

The Emporer's wife, Maimi, one of her only real friends, was with child a few months later. She had a baby girl around the time that Etko's boy was turning two. Kaishi was her name. She would be the one to enherit the throne, because Maimi could have no more children. Since the Emperor had liked Raino so much, they had their children betrothed.

The baby was kidnapped from her cradle only three months later. Many people suspected Etko, but Maimi wouldn't hear of it.

Unfortunatly, Maimi died of a fever a few years later, and the Emperor had Etko put in jail. He had nothing against her son, though. Having loved his father like a brother, he gave him a fine education.

But the boy wanted his mother out of jail, and, on his seventeenth birthday, proclaimed that he would volunteer for the new transport system if the Emperor would take the money and free his mother. Needing a volunteer for the reasearch badly, he agreed. The boy had no fear he would be cheated, for the Emperor was a man of his word. So he went and did as he said.

Kagome finished sweeping the floor, and stepped outside.

"Ah, it's such a pretty night out tonight." she whispered, watching the stars. She still had the cloth over her hair, like a cross between a bandana and a hair net, and it held back her silky black hair. "Let's see, tonight's my birthday. Tomorrow I'll have my party."

She danced around under the stars. "Fifteen, I'm fifteen!" she sang, dancing farther and farther into the woods. "Fi-i-i-i-i-ifteen!"

A glint of metal caught her eye and cause her to stop singing. She walked slowly closer to the metal sphere lying in the miniature clearing. It was made of crossing bars, leaving gaps, and there was only one big enough to get through.

She gasped as she realized that there was a person in there. She ran over to the sphere, and climbed throught the only large gap.

He was sitting in a chair in the middle. It was kind of cramped inside, so once she was in she was practically on top of him.

She dragged him out of the sphere, and laid him on the grass. She pulled off his helmet and glasses, and gasped again.

It was a handsome boy. His silver hair flowed once it was released from the helmet. He had cute little dog-like ears on top of his head, and his face was peaceful in sleep.

She leaned just a little closer. He really was handsome, and she couldn't help herself.

Slowly, he began to stir...

He hadn't been dreaming. It was just blank, empty black space in his mind. Nothing.

But he felt soft hands tug off his helmet and glasses, lightly grazing his ears in a gentle touch. He knew it was a woman's hands. He didn't know how, but he did.

'Her hands are so soft. Her skin is gentle. What does she look like? What does her skin feel like beneath my hands? ' he asked himself, and he opened his eyes.

He looked up to see a beautiful woman kneeling over him, concern in her pale-silver eyes. Her black hair was held back in a white clothe, which she pulled off only seconds after he noticed it. "Are you alright?" she asked.

He blinked at her. "I...yes, I think." he finally said.

She smiled to him. "Good." she said, lightly touching his cheek. "Why on earth would you be in a big metal sphere?" she asked, a hint of laughter in her voice. She pressed the clothe from her hair over his cheek. "Sorry, it looks like I cut you when I pulled you out of that...thing. I guess it was my ring or something. Who knows?"

He laughed. "It is scary looking. I only got in it to free my mother."

She cocked her head, looking like she was about to ask him a question, but then shook her head. "No, I'll have you tell me later." She pulled the clothe back and smiled. "It's stopped bleeding."

He didn't have the heart to tell her it was probably because of his healing abilities, since he healed fast. But then he noticed that her clothe was stained with just a bit much blood to be from a cut. He tried to sit up, but his body was stiff.

"It'll probably hurt. Let's get you inside." she said, standing and helping him ease up.

"Here, let me take off this stupid thing. It's only heavy, I don't need it." he said, unzipping his transport jacket. and sliding off the bulky pants. At least the kimono he always wore, which was underneath, was a lot lighter.

She smiled to him, and led him back to the house.

'Why is she so understanding? She can't know what's going on...can she? I don't know...She seems as if she should know what I'd mean...'

**(I don't like it past this point. But it has a lot of info I haven't just taken down in notes yet, so I can't erase it.)**

"Hey, Kag-chan?" Inuyasha asked, sitting up. He was only still in bed because she wouldn't let him leave, and he'd taken to calling her by this nick-name. He'd been stuck in her room for two days now. "I was wondering...You seem a little different from your family." He'd met her brother when he'd come in with some soup, and her mother when she'd come to get the laundry. "How come?"

She looked over to him and smiled. "I was adopted, you know." she said, going back to stirring the drink she had, but wouldn't tell him what it was. "My parents found me in the woods. They adopted me. I was only about three months old. So, exactly fourteen years and nine months ago they found me in the woods. I love Momma alot, though."

"And...what about your father?" Inuyasha asked.

Kagome looked out the window, her face sad. "He died a long time ago. I hardly remember him. It was just after Sota was born."

"Your little brother?"

She smiled. "Yeah." Then she turned to him. "Would you like some?" she asked, offering the pitcher she'd been stirring for the day.

"Sure." he said, and she filled his glass. He drank the sweet juice, and it was a little familiar...

"Hey, what is this?" he asked. It reminded him of something he'd had once, at the emperor's palace...

"It's just my version of lemonade." she said, laughing. "I don't know why I ever put cherries in it, but I did. Isn't it good?"

"Yeah, great." he replied. He watched her for a moment, and his eyes widened when he saw that the pitcher, which was sitting precariously on the edge of the table, was about to fall.

He couldn't get there fast enough...Kagome was close enough...but...she'd never make it...she wasn't fast enough...didn't have his years of training...from where she was sitting, it would be hard for him to catch it...and she wasn't a natural like him...didn't have those 'perfect' reflexes that were so needed in his home...she couldn't catch it...

He was extremely surprised when she did. She caught it in one hand, and set it back on the table, farther from the edge this time.

"Wow. I didn't know you had such good reflexes." Inuyasha said, smiling at her. She turned to him, slightly surprised, but then smiled too.

"I didn't say anything because my family never seems to notice it when I do stuff like that." she said, laughing. "That was a really good catch, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I do." From then on, he always watched her closely to see if she did anything like that again.

She didn't.

"Hey, now that you're all better, can you tell me what you were doing in a giant metal sphere in the woods?"

Inuyasha glanced up. She'd only just let him out of bed. "Why?"

"I want to know." she said, leaning against the door frame.

"Not now, okay?" he said, standing and walking to the window.

"Wait! Where are you going!" she asked as he slid it open.

"I'll be on the roof if you need me." was all he said before he sprang onto the window sill and out onto the roof.

Kagome grumbled and followed him. Hoisting herself up, she lifted onto the roof without too much trouble.

"Hey, how come you came to the roof?" she asked, walking over to him. He glanced up.

"I didn't think you'd follow me. Anyway, all the buildings where I come from, on the planet Nara, they're really tall, and this one...isn't. I...needed to get higher." He shrugged.

"A little homesick?" she asked. "Why don't you tell me about 'home' ?"

He smirked. "I'm only here to get my mother out of jail. If I volunteered to come, then all the money would go to the Emperor, and he'd set her free."

"Really? What's she in jail for?" Kagome asked, sitting down beside him.

"About fifteen years ago, the Empress, my mother's friend, had a baby girl. That was when I was two. When the baby was three months old, she dissapeared. Alot of people suspected my mother had done it, but the Empress, Maimi, didn't think so. When she died, the Emperor had my mother put in jail." Inuyasha explained. "Since Maimi couldn't have any more children after her baby girl, she would have inherited the throne. Now they have no heir, since the Emperor refuses to remarry."

Kagome nodded. "But what if they found the baby? Of course, she wouldn't be a baby now, would she?"

"No, she wouldn't. She'd be...about your age." Inuyasha agreed. Then he suddenly remembered something he'd wanted to see. He stood and walked to the other side of the roof. "Hey, Kagome, can I see something?"

She shrugged. "Sure, what?"

"Ack, um...Give me something to through." he said, searching himself and finding nothing.

"Hey, um..." Kagome pulled something out of her pocket. "I found this on you when you were asleep." she said, tossing him a medallion on a silver chain. "What is it?"

Inuyasha held the medallion in his hand for a moment. It was of two crescent moons, locked together. One was silvery white metal called Moonstone, the other was a darker, almost reddish metal called Sunstone. They were set on a black metal circle that went beneath them.

He stared at the amulet for a while, lifting it up to look at it in the sun. It glimmered as if it were new. "Have you ever seen one before?" he asked.

"Yes. I have one." she said, walking over to him.

A streak of light went straight for her, and she snapped her hand out to catch the amulet he'd thrown to her. He stared.

"You have really good reflexes." he said, and his own hand snapped out to catch it as she threw it back. "Now, let me see your amulet." he commanded.

She was standing beside him now, and she pulled a silver chain out from under her shirt, tugging up a medallion like his own. Identical, you could say, except there were runes around the black circle on hers.

He reached out to grab the amulet, but Kagome suddenly tripped, falling back and down the roof to the ground.

Acting before he thought on it, he reached out and grabbed her, tugging her up to him. This motion set him down the slope of the roof as well, but he pressed her to his chest and landed lightly on his feet when they hit the ground.

He set her on her feet, and she looked up to him. She mumbled something and looked away.

"What was that?" he asked. She couldn't have said what he'd thought...could she?

"Aru...aru nakutsi. Rikotsu aru nakutsi." she said.

He stared. She had appologized and given him her blessing. It was a custom from Nara, but...she'd said it in the old language. The language of the runes. Not even the Emperor could read the Runes anymore.

He'd been doing a lot of staring lately. She said so.

"Why do you keep staring at me?" she asked. "It's not polite, you know."

He had something...in his pocket...he'd kept it after his mother had been taken...it had been his father's...There! He pulled out a scrap of old parchment.

"Can you read this?" he asked, shoving it into her hands. She took it from him gingerly, studying it, running her hands across the letter-like symbols.

"Mitsku, eto eto nanaki. Idf aa aru aa no. Inu inu riko nan et et no nan aa aru no nan." she said, slowly. "It means...I think it means that...It sounds like a spell, or a prophecy."

"What does it say!" he asked, eager now. He had to know. His father had brought it from his home world, but he couldn't read it either.

"'Moon's beam is red, red sky. In the night, night call. The prophecy is foretold, as it will happen.' There's more, but it doesn't make sense. Like half the sentence is missing. There's something about a 'half to a whole', somebody finds where they belong, something like that. No...the half stays the same, I think...but they find what they need." She looked confused. "Half...this paper was ripped in half. It's missing something." she finally said.

"Read all of it." Inuyasha demanded.

"That's the problem. I can't. One word depends on the rest of the sentence for it's meaning. I can't translate it. But...I've seen a peice of paper like this. It didn't make sense either." she said. "Come on. It's in my room. I kept it."

She led him back into the house. "Look, I'm sorry about this. Maybe you should go home." she said quietly. "I...I've just made a big mess of things. I know it. I have this feeling that...I'm making things worse."

"No, you're not." Inuyasha argued. They were in her room before she said anything else.

She went digging through her chest, lying under the window. She sat there, rummaging through her stuff for a solid ten minutes. Eventually she came up with a peice of parchment like Inuyasha's.

She put the two papers together, and tried to read it.

She flung her hands in the air. "It's still missing something, but at least these two go together. At the top, it says 'Shikon'. I think that's the name of this...prophecy, or else that's what it's about."

"Come back with me." Inuyasha said suddenly. "Come back to Nara with me."

"What?" Kagome asked, turning to him. "I don't understand."

"Nara. Come back with me. I want you to meet the Emperor. I think he'd like you. And besides, I'm sure they could use you." He remembered something he'd heard in the news. "They dug up this big tablet from under the city, in the ancient ruins of the old cities. There's all these runes on it. No one can read it, because no one can read the runes. The Emperor is giving a million Nik to whoever can read it. It can also be exchanged for a ton of Moonstone or Sunstone, of the same worth. Come on. You could buy whatever you want with all that. Surely there's something you want."

"I just want a friend, an adventure." she said, looking out the window.

"You can have that. You don't have to take the job, you know. It might be fun, though. But you can go across the universe if you get a job with some other agencies. Come on, it'll be fun." He stood, grabbing her hands. "Do you want to?"

"Would you?" she asked.

"I-" He looked away. "I don't know what I'm going to do now. I would take this job though. Only...they aren't going to offer it to me. You're the one they'll hire. You're the one the Emperor saw fit to give a million Nik to."

"If you'll do it too, then I will." She smiled to him. "Working with you would be fun."

"We'd have to be partners." Inuyasha said playfully after he got over the shock.

"As long as we aren't forced to get married." she said, laughing.

"Sometimes co-ed partners do, but it's not required." he added, shoving her lightly. "And you get to travel around and see all sorts of planets, and stuff like that..."

She sighed and leaned against her bed. "That sounds like a lot of fun."

"Good. Let's go soon, okay?"


	5. Blood Calling

**INUYASHA**

There was more before this, but I never got around to writing it. Okay, here's a basic detail:

Kagome lives in a world basically divided into three kinds of people: summoners and priests. Summoners consider priests to be a lying, cheating, kidnapping bunch, and priests consider summoners to be impure and evil. Naturally, neither view is entirely true, but priests really do kidnap summoners all the time and try to 'purify' them. They want to find a way to 'save' those 'poor souls.' They really are trying to be good, but being a summoner doesn't make someone evil.

Summoners have, basically, magical powers. They can control elements, tell fortunes, yatta yatta yatta. In addition to the traditional magics as we know them, there is also a another dimension in this world, called the 'summoning realm.' In it lives what we term 'demons,' but to summoners they aren't evil, either. If someone, obviously, summons one, it does their bidding, if they're strong enough to control it (if they weren't, though, they wouldn't be able to summon it. Demons like staying right where they are, because the Rim area between the Earth and the Summoning Realm is painful for them to cross).

In this story, Kagome is a summoner. I somehow wanted her to be so strong that the rulers on her world had to put restraints on her power, which are mentioned later, but I haven't figured out why or how they did so. Anyways, in this chapter, she's walking home from school, when she accidentally walks past a temple or a shrine and the priest starts talking to her. The whole time she's praying he won't realize that she's a summoner and kidnap her, and she starts to walk away when he reads her aura or some such thing and realizes that she is part summoner (Not sure how that works, either, but I was gonna work on it). He grabs her and takes her into the temple courtyard.

**Blood Calling**

"Ahhhhhh, noooooo!" Kagome shrieked as the priest dragged her over onto the large block of stone in the center of the courtyard. It was a sacrificial stone -That was it! She'd had enough! She needed to get out of here, before she became a human sacrifice!

But before she knew it, he had her bound to the stone. She wouldn't be able to run. He pulled out a dagger, and held it to her shoulder. "Hold still." he said quietly. "I don't want to kill you, I just want to get rid of the evil."

"Sure, right! And that's why Summoners are disappearing left and right!" she cried, tugging at the bonds. She'd just have to summon a creature from the Summons realm. It was rather simple to summon something to do a simple chore for you. You just had to lock onto the kind of energy you needed to get the job done, connect that concentration with the Summons realm, and pull. They would pop up. But what type of energy did she need? What did she want done?

"I want to be safe!" she thought aloud. "I want someone to protect me!" She'd need a powerful youkai to do that, not just those lesser things she pulled out at school, and for a really strong youkai, she'd need to make a bond. And she'd need to know exactly what youkai she wanted. "Inu," she muttered. "Inu are best for bonds. If they feel like it, that is." Inu were very picky when they made up their minds.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" she cried, as the priest cut her arm. Three small drops of blood fell from the wound, right onto the stand beside her, which was there to catch the blood. The wound wasn't very deep at all, but it hurt so bad because the dagger was laced with sacred poison, to destroy the 'evil' and 'taint' that the blood of a Summoner represented. "INU-YASHA!" she cried out in pure instinct, latched onto one aura, and tugged with all her might. The aura resisted, but she didn't have time to look for others. It was the only one that fit her qualifications - even though she didn't remember making any -, it was the only one that came to her call, and she didn't have time to start over. So she pulled harder, until finally the inu youkai's aura let itself be pulled through the gap in dimensions. As the swirling ball of gold was pulled through the purple black tunnel, a scream escaped her lips, and there was a yell, and a growl. She heard something fall to the ground, and then she passed out.

Kagome woke up, and reached a hand to her head. Ouch, she had an enormous headache. It felt like someone was pounding on her temple. Moaning, she rolled over, and felt the cold stone beneath her. Then the memories of when the priest had dragged her into the temple courtyard came rushing back, and she sat up, startled. Was she still there?

Looking around, she saw that, sure enough, she was still on the temple. Something cold and wet fell onto her lap, and she realized there had been a cold washcloth on her forehead. Instantly, heat overtook her, and she collapsed back, pressing the cloth to her face again.

"I need to get home . . . " she muttered. "Momma must be worried sick . . . "

She thought she felt someone watching her, and she opened her eyes, to see a face looking intently at her. She jumped. "W-w-wha-wh-who're you!" she finally forced out.

"Inu-Yasha." the boy said simply. "You summoned me, don't you remember?"

"Ungh . . . " she said, falling back again, but this time the boy caught her. "Are you the inu youkai I pulled from the Summons?" she asked, staring into his intense golden eyes. She didn't mean to stare, but they drew her gaze.

"Mm-hmm." he replied. "Inu-Yasha. You summoned me personally. May I ask why?"

"I don't know. I just started crying, and yours was the only aura I could reach. Sorry." she whispered.

"No problem." Inu-Yasha replied.

"Uh . . . Inu-Yasha? Could you . . . take me home?" she asked, trying not to pass out again.

"I don't know my way around your city yet." the youkai said quietly.

"What time is it? How long have I been asleep?" Kagome asked.

"A day. It's almost noon."

"Uhnnn . . . The school is down the road . . . go get Sango from the office . . . " she half smiled, muttering, " . . . she'll be glad to get out of class . . . " before she nodded off.

Inu-Yasha ran out of the courtyard, and down the road, heading towards the school, leaving a pile of blood where they had been. The blood was slowly turning green, and disapearing. That can't be good . . .

"Paging Sango Taiji and Miroku Kazaana to the office. Paging Sango Taiji and Miroku Kazaana to the office please." the voice called over the intercom.

Miroku and Sango looked up at Miss Takanoji. Did this possibly have anything to do with Kagome? She hadn't come to school, and her mother hadn't seen her at all last night. Miss Takanoji nodded, and they both bolted up and ran out of the class, not even bothering to get their books. The hurtled down the hall, and ran into the office.

"M . . . Mrs. Nakogi? We . . . we were called?" Miroku said, huffing from running down the hall.

"Sango Taiji? Miroku Kazaana? Kagome Higurashi just showed up, and she's back in the nurses room." the lady at the desk said, looking up. She looked almost frightened, but covered that up with annoyance quickly. "You shouldn't run in the halls . . . "

"What happened!" Sango yelled. "What happened to Kagome! Is she alright!"

"She's in the nurses room." Mrs. Nakogi repeated, returning to her paperwork. "Honestly, you would think someone would have come up with a spell to make papers file themselves by now . . . "

So they ran back into the nurse's room. Kagome was there, looking flushed, and lying on one of the beds that lined the walls. She was hooked up to an anti-poison machine, which could drain 'sacred poison' from a Summoner's veins. The blanket was up over her chest, but her arms were above it. She had what looked like a wet cloth on her head. The curtains, which were there for privacy, had only been partially pulled around, so you could see her from the door.

"Kagome!" Sango cried, running to the bed. She clutched her friend's hand, turning to the nurse at the desk. "Is she alright?"

"I don't know yet. She might live, she might not. That poison was very strong. She would be dead right now . . . " the lady said, shaking her head.

"Why isn't she, then?" Miroku was about to ask, when he noticed the youkai sitting backwards in the chair on the other side of the bed. His eyes were half closed, but he was in a position so that he could see Kagome, and everything that went on in her little secluded section of the room. He was resting his chin on his arms, which were crossed over the back of the chair. "Who are you?" he asked.

The youkai looked up, his eyes dull. "Inu-Yasha." he murmured, letting his head fall down again, and closing his eyes. "Are you Miroku and Sango?" he asked.

"Yes." Sango said. "How do you know our names?"

"Kagome said you'd be happy to get out of class. Right now I feel like shit, so I'm gonna . . . " His voice faded away as his shoulders slumped, and his head lolled to the side. He was unconscious.

"Well, that does sound like something Kagome would say." Sango remarked cautiously. Then she turned back to the nurse. "Who is he?" she asked.

"Well, he's the one that brought Kagome in." The nurse said thoughtfully. "I think he either found her, or she summoned him. I think it's safe to assume a priest attacked Kagome. Or maybe she was dragged onto a shrine's ground. There is one between here and her home, isn't there?"

"Yes," Miroku replied. "But he's an inu youkai. They are so very picky, they won't allow themselves to be summoned unless they form a bond with you."

"And Kagome isn't strong enough to form a bond. Not in her condition." Sango finished.

"Well of course she didn't summon him now." the nurse said dryly. "That's not what I meant."

"And that's not what I meant." Sango returned. "I mean, she has restricting cables around her wrists. She couldn't bond with a lesser dragon, much less summon a high-ranking youkai and bond to it."

"Unless . . . " Miroku said, thinking out loud. "Unless she used a Blood Calling ritual. She wouldn't even have to know she was doing it, if she was in trouble . . . "

"A what?" the nurse asked.

"A Blood Calling ritual. If blood was taken out of her body, and she summoned this youkai then, the energy could flow into that blood, create a portal between dimensions, and she could channel as much energy as she wanted and bond with any youkai." He looked over to the silver-haired inu youkai. "But her blood would leave an imprint on him, somewhere, since he would have to travel through a portal created by it." He then took a closer look at the inu youkai. First he frowned, but then he smiled. "Hang on just a moment." he said. "This is a hanyou. A hanyou could have created the portal himself . They have fair Summon abilities. And they can create or reject a bond. Or rather, they create a kind of dormant bond when they are born, and connect with a Summoner here on Earth. If that summoner calls, they will automatically be bonded, and if any other summoner calls, and tries to bond with them, they will reject it."

The nurse, during this enlightening speech, had traveled over, and checked the hanyou's pulse. It was slow and quiet, and quickly fading. She hooked him up to a heart monitor, and attached him to the same anti-poison machine that Kagome was hooked up to. "Well, there's no doubt about it." she said.

"No doubt about what?" Sango asked, turning.

"They most certainly are bonded, and it's a rather strong bond, too. Now I know why her blood wasn't dissipating as fast as it should have been, for how strong the poison was. The boy's soul was absorbing it. But now there's a problem." she said quietly.

"What?" Miroku asked.

"They're both dying."


	6. Among the Ruins

**INUYASHA**

This isn't so bad. I wrote this one when I was walking home with my brother. We walked along a set of railroad tracks, and he would always find something...interesting to take home and play with. It got me thinking about stories, as a lot of things do. In this, supposedly Naraku destroyed everything. Humans moved underground, and priests kept them safe with shielding spells. Sometimes some adventurous soul would go out and scavenge around the above ground, looking for something the humans could use. Of course, Kagome had to be an adventurous soul...

**Among the Ruins**

Kagome yawned. It was so boring to sit here and listen to Grandfather tell all these old tales of ancients and myths and whatnot, but she had to. There was nothing else to do. Might as well get it over with now, instead of worrying about it later...

"...And then there's the story of the Shikon Jewel."

"Grandfather, I just remembered. I have to go. I...Naru wants to meet me by the school. And you have to go on the rounds. And Sota needed me to pick him up today." Kagome said very quickly as each new excuse came to her attention. "I'll come by later, after...I'm busy now."

Before he could protest, she walked out of their home and hastily down the hall. She ran smack into another person coming from the other direction. She paused, backed up, and looked up at her victim.

"Oh, sorry Hojo. I was..." She trailed off.

"Running away from Grandfather's stories again?" Hojo hazarded, laughing at her look. "Like always? What're you doing this time?"

"Actually, I really do have to go see Naru, and Sota wants me to pick him up today." she replied, indignantly puffing herself up. "And anyway, I wanted to go see the Ruins. It is my birthday, and it's...the old tradition to see them on your birthday, you know? I don't want to wait another year."

Hojo laughed again. "It has never been someone in your family to violate tradition." he joked. "I wish you safe passage." he added, the old term for a good-bye.

"Safe passage." she said, and turned back down the hall. She knew that Hojo liked her...at least a little. Unfortunately, she didn't care for him anymore then a friend. She only hoped he knew.

Soon she came to the hall of the comunity where things got darker. It had to be this way closer to the surface or the youkai would find them, and kill them. Grandfather's wards usually kept them out...but it was an extra precaution.

Naraku, the sick sadist that wanted all humans killed, had let us build great cities a long time ago, lying in wait to attack. Once we had grand buildings built, and were just beginning to bask in the glow of peace and prosperity...that's when he attacked. It made it that much worse to fail, having acheived such a high goal. That's why he'd done it.

No one knew, of course. No one could remember. No one could read the ancient scripts that had been written against Naraku's knowledge. In fact, they had been written as a way to keep their secrets written and not worry about Naraky getting a hold of them and destorying the plans. So no one had any clue as to what they read. It wasn't like regular old Japanese, or even like the Speech, the combined language of the world after Naraku took over, that everyone could speak. It was its own language; it was known as the Runes.

Just as the tunnel got dark, Kagome took a side tunnel to the old school. The kids had to walk this way every day to learn. They needed to speak their own language to remind us that we were a free people, to keep our heritage, while also learning the Speech, to comunicate with the others.

Sota, her younger brother, went to school here. She would pick him up. Naru, a friend, wanted to meet her here.

"Kagome!" Sota cried as he ran up. "I was wondering when you would come!"

"Grandfather got me caught up again." she apologized. Then she looked around. "Is Naru still here? I hope she isn't mad at me for being late."

"No, of course not. Grandfather gets on my nerves sometimes, too." she said, smiling. Then her grin turned a little evil. "It's your birthday...Do you intend to go to the Ruins like you said?"

There were ruins of one of the ancient, advanced cities near their little comunity.

"Of course. I'm going with Sota now to look across the tracks. Like I promised." she added, glancing at the young boy at her side.

"But it's above. You'll have to tell Grandfather if you want to go. He'll give you an ofuda to keep you hidden." Naru said as they walked back through the tunnel to the main hall.

"I'll make my own. I know how they work. And Sota still has one from when Grandfather last let him go, and he didn't, remember?" Kagome added. "I wouldn't let him go out with one of my make-shift little flaps of paper."

They reached the break in the tunnel. To the right was the surface; the left, the comunity. Kagome sat down and pulled some paper spells out of a side pocket in her satchel; they had Grandfather's writing on them.

She mumbled over them, trying to focus 'energy' through them like Grandfather had said when he'd been training her miko powers for priestesshood. She didn't think it was working, but it felt more right then when she'd tried at home.

Through her squinted eyes she saw that the words on the ofuda were glowing blue, and she smiled. "Well, that went better then I thought." she said aloud.


	7. Dreaming Nightmares

**INUYASHA**

I'm not the proudest of this piece, but I did write it, and it isn't half bad. I've thoroughly dropped most dream scenes because of junk like this I wrote previously, though. Everything always came out with the same feeling, and I couldn't get anything new that way.

**Dreaming Nightmares**

Kagome was running along the beach, and her long black hair was on the wind behind her. She was wearing a long, pale pink dress, and she could feel the cool sand on her feet. And the sun on her face. And the wind in her hair. And the smell of the ocean in her nose. She could hear the waves crashing beside her, and the sound of her feet as they crashed down on the sand with every step she took. She was giggling. Then she heard someone come up behind her, and she turned to find Inuyasha running up towards her. He ran passed her, but as he did, he sort of pulled her down, so that they were both sitting on the shore. Both sitting and laughing. Laughing as the sun beat gently down on them.

Then Inuyasha took Kagome's hands in his, and looked down at them. When he looked up, he smiled as he said, "Look, claws. You're like me! Your ears are, too!"

Kagome looked down at her hands, and sure enough, on each of her fingers was a long, pearly colored claw. She took a hand and reached up to the top of her head, and felt the ears that were there, just like Inuyasha's. She smiled, too.

"Let's go out into the ocean!" she said, still giggling. So they ran out into the surf and then swam out as far as they could. For a few moments, Kagome just stayed in the same place, treading water, and looking out into the clear blue of the water that went off into the clear blue of the sky. It was beautiful. She looked around her and saw that Inuyasha was nowhere to be seen. Then she spotted him on the shore, so she began to swim back. When she was back on the beach, she went running up to him, and hugged him around the neck. Then they both turned back to the ocean and looked out over the water. Kagome held up one clawed hand and watched a drop of water drip down one of her claws. As she watched, it slowly turned red, as if it was being filled with food coloring. As she continued to watch, in horror, the drops of water dripping down her hand turned to drops of blood, and she turned to Inuyasha to ask what was going on, only to see him lying on the ground, with blood dripping from his mouth and the wound in his chest.

"What . . . what's going on!" she shouted, and turned away to run along the beach. When she turned back, she saw Inu-Yasha very far away, but she could still very clearly see his wounds and the blood that was dropping onto the sand. "What happened?" She looked down to the claws on her hand, still dripping blood. "Did I do that to him?" she asked. "But why!"

'Don't you remember? You wanted him dead, and killed him.' a voice said in her ear. Then it giggled. 'It was fun, too. You said so yourself.'

"But why would I want Inu-Yasha dead?" Kagome asked in horror as Inu-Yasha's body became steadily clearer, and she could see claw marks running along his arms.

'I'm not sure. You never said. But you said something about him stealing, remember? Stealing your power, I think it was. Whatever it was, he deserved to die. Because he stole your life.'

"What do you mean, 'he stole my life'?" Kagome asked. She slammed her eyes shut, but it was as if she could see through her eyelids, and the scene continued to grow clearer. Tears streaked down her cheeks as she fell to the ground, focusing on the sand.

'Just that, He stole your life away. He tried to kill you, and then kept you from going home, remember? He was trying to destroy your life back on the other side of the well.'

"Is that my real time?" Kagome asked, as the thought occured to her. "Was he trying to keep me out of my real time?"

'No, it's not. You belong here, but we need you there, too. That's why you can go back.'

"I . . . I think I see what you're saying . . . but I don't want Inu-Yasha dead!"

'Yes, you do. He only gets in the way. Now come along, let's go.'

Suddenly she felt hands on her shoulders, trying to steer her away from Inu-Yasha and the beach. She began pulling against them. "No!" she cried. "Inu-Yasha!"

'No! Come along, NOW!'

Kagome felt pain course through her, and she shuddered, but pulled harder.

"Inu-Yasha! Help me!" she yelled, tears falling as she tried to pull back towards the hanyou's body. "Please, no . . . Inu-Yasha!"

"Inu-Yasha . . . " Kagome muttered in her sleep. " . . . help . . . me . . . Inu-Yasha . . . "

"Kagome!" Miroku cried, shaking her shoulders. "Kagome, wake up! It's only a dream! Wake up!"

"What's wrong, Miroku? Why won't she wake up?" Sango asked. Then she gasped, and moved a hand to her mouth. "She's . . . she's crying!"

"Inu-Yasha . . . " Kagome muttered.

"Inu-Yasha! Where are you, dog! Kagome needs you!" Shippo cried into the night, clearly shaken by this turn of events. He was calling on Inu-Yasha for help!

Suddenly there was a rustle, and Inu-Yasha was beside them. He already had Shippo and was holding him up by his shirt. "What did you say, runt!" he cried.

The kit didn't struggle, but began to cry. "It's Kagome. I don't know what's wrong. She just started having a nightmare, I guess. She was turning, and then she started yelling for you. We can't wake her up! And now she's started crying!"

Just then Kagome's scent hit him hard. Fear? She was scared of something?

He dropped the kit and ran to Kagome's side. "Kagome! What's wrong! Wake up! Kagome!"

Kagome's face screwed up, and then her eyes flew open. "Inu-Yasha!" she cried, and wrapped her arms around him instantly. "I thought you were dead." she whispered.

Inu-Yasha looked around. Judging by the looks on the faces of his friends, they hadn't heard that. They were just happy she was okay. But he had, and he wanted to know what she meant.

"What do you mean?" he said, trying to look down at her, which was hard, since she was burried so deep in his haori he was scared she might not be able to come out.

"I dreamed . . . that you died." she said, loud enough for the rest to hear. But then she stopped. 'I can't just tell them that I killed him in my dream.' she thought, biting her lip. 'They would think I was crazy.' She shuddered, and pulled herself closer to him, which had seemed imposible only moments ago.

Inu-Yasha was stunned for a few moments, and it took a while for it to register to him that he was stroking her hair and whispering things to her, but once it did, he didn't stop.

"It's okay, everything's fine."

"No it's not!" she cried. "I thought that you'd...that you'd died! I don't think . . . "

"What?"

Kagome shook her head. "I think I should go home. I feel like it's not safe for me to be here."

Inu-Yasha was shocked. "No! It was just a dream! You're perfectly safe, and no one could ever kill me."

"But . . . I . . . Someone did, in the dream. I don't want to know that it's possible . . . "

"It's not." Inu-Yasha said, giving her a stern look. Not that she noticed.

"But I - "

"Kagome." His tone drew her attention, and she looked up to him, tears in her eyes. 'She's really worried . . . ' He smiled to her gently. "Please, don't worry. Everything will be fine. You should go back to sleep."

She nodded, but didn't make a move to get back into her sleeping bag, and he didn't make a move to leave. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes.

In her comfortable surroundings, she fell asleep imediately. She didn't haev enough time to wonder she felt so safe because it was Inuyasha's lap that she was in.


	8. Faerie Vale

**INUYASHA**

No clue what I was doing. I got the song from something we sang in choir in the seventh grade. It sounded very...magical. Well, the alto part did. It sounded like something I would imagine fairies to sing. Mythical, spirit-you-away fairies, not the tiny little babies with butterfly wings, although back then my image of fairies did include the fancy, thin wings.

I don't know what was wrong with me.

**Faerie Vale**

_Come away and Sing with me Today.  
Hand in Hand, we join in great Delight.  
Gather round and Raise a festive Sound.  
Dance and Sing together Day and Night.  
Take your Choice-  
Let all rejoice,  
With us the Whole day Long.  
Oh Come and Sing-  
Hear Music Ring,  
Oh Make your choice in Song._

The beautiful, light notes drifted in through the forest's branches to where he stood. He'd heard that this was the Faerie Vale, but he never thought he'd hear one of their songs.

The fairy's song started over again, and he followed the notes to where a beautiful maiden stood.

Her long black hair hung down over her back to her knees, rolling where her halo of silver leaves sat on her head. A white dress shimmered almost silver around her torso, the billowing, pearly skirt seeming to be as naturally frayed as leaves and short on her legs. There were no sleeves on the dress; it didn't even come over her shoulders. When she turned, he saw the silvery blue-violet wings that hung down her back, breaking the stream of her hair, seeming as worn out and tattered as her dress, but in a more intentional-seeming way, almost patternistic.

She was rinsing clothes in the water, singing to herself.

_Gather round and Raise a festive Sound.  
Dance and Sing together Day and Night.  
Take your_

She let out a startled gasp and spun around, hiding behind a near-by boulder. "Wh-wh-what are you doing here?" she asked, shivering and shaking from the surprise.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I heard you singing, and I-"

She let out a sigh. "It's alright. I'm sorry." she said, walking back over to the little pond. The waters were just a little too blue to be normal.

She laughed, drawing his attention back to her. "It's a unicorn pond." she said, as if reading his thoughts. "I thought it was a bit odd when I first saw it as well."

"Right. Will the...ah...unicorn mind if...we use it?" he asked.

She laughed again. "The unicorn that created this pool lives on the other side of the forest. He gave it to my mother a few hundred years ago. It belongs to me now." she said, giggling. "He doesn't care who uses it."

She stood and gathered her clothes. "If you don't mind, my little haven is just around the bend here." she said, motioning to a path he hadn't noticed before. "You can stay there. I doubt you have somewhere to stay tonight."

He blushed slightly, looking away. "Yes, thank you."

They made their way through the trees, forest, and over many roots along the path. Sometimes Inuyasha wondered how she knew her way, because he could no longer see the path.

Eventually they wound up before a little cottage, dug half into the earth between a large tree's roots. The windows, which were nothing more then gnarled roots that crossed over a whole in the wall, shed no light, but the fire wasn't burning inside anyway.

"This's it!" the woman said cheerfully, pulling back a clothe to allow him to enter the home. It was rather large for a young woman to live in alone. "My haven. Every fairy or elf needs a haven if they aren't small enough to live in the flowers."

"I...see." Inuyasha murmmured.

"Haha, I bet you thought all fairies look the same, didn't you? Well, now you know. There are lots of differnt kinds of fairies." She tittered away starting the fire. "I'll have to show you the shrine fairies. They're mighty interesting."

Inuyasha only nodded. "Ah...you never told me your name." he said, sitting down in a chair beside a table.

The woman stood up, slapping her hands to her face. "Oh, that's right!" she cried. "How silly of me. If it wasn't for that insident with Maybeth, I would've told you my name whether I intended to invite you home or not! She cast a curse on me for giving my name to every passerby. She's a which, you know. If I hadn't given her my name, I wouldn't have had to deal with all those..." She trailed off with a shudder. "Anyway, my name's Kagome. I'm a fairy, if you didn't notice. Nothing special about me. Just a fairy."


	9. Odyssey

**INUYASHA  
**I don't really know where I was going with this, either, just that they had to travel around a lot and find some Crystal, which would turn out to be what we know as the Shikon no Tama.  
And I have no idea why I decided to call them _newbeasts_, so don't ask.

**Odyssey**

"I have to go now, Inuyasha." Kagome said, taking deep breaths to stave off the unconsciousness that had plagued her since her arrival to this chamber. "I have to sleep for now."

"No! You need to stay here with _me_!" Inuyasha cried, but she shook her head, stepping onto the icy platform.

"No. It's...cold here, now...I have to sleep, or I won't be able to withstand the cold." she said, shivering. Pale golden fur showed on her skin, and large white wings emerged from her back, enveloping her and protecting her from the cold of the shimmering crystal around her.

There was only one spot the wings idled in covering - the spot over her face. Inuyasha reached his hand out to her, stretching, begging her to come back to him. She gave him a sad look, reaching her own hand to him tentatively, but the crest of her wings snapped over the gap, leaving her alone inside her feather shell.

"Good-bye, Inuyasha. I wish things could be different." she whispered, and closed her eyes. It was time to go off to that place where she would wait for wakefulness to take her again.

Inyasha didn't want to let her go. He stormed into the cavern and right up to her. "No!" he cried, trying to pry back her wings. They wouldn't budge, and they were icy cold.

Now he felt so tired...Suddenly he noticed another stand, near hers. Why hadn't he seen it before? He hadn't thought that the little stand she slept on looked very comfortable, but he was so tired, he would sleep anywhere...

He climbed onto the little stand, and fell asleep, his face instantly falling blank. Red fur encompassed him, and black, leathery wings grew from his back to wrap around him in a similar fashion to Kagome's. He himself was becoming a Newbeast. Black and red painted around the doorway, entertwining with the gold and white that was already there. This chamber now housed two Newbeasts.

­­­­­­­­­­

"Miroku, what are we doing here?" Sango asked the man before her as they trudged up the path on the mountain. "What's the point? Why did you wake me up at the crack of dawn to climb a mountain with you?"

"Because of what's at the top of this mountain. It's said that there's a cave at the top that has two sleeping Newbeasts inside." Miroku replied as he climbed. "I want to see if it's the truth."

"And if it's not?"

"We climbed all this way for nothing. But it will be." Miroku stopped and turned to face her. "I know it's the truth."

"Well, what do we do when we get there?" Sango asked, peevish now with the way he was acting.

"We free them, and tame them." he said. "It'll be worth it. They'll do what we ask of them, and they'll be mega powerful."

"What if we can't tame them?"

"Then we've released a power on the earth that can't be stopped." was his reply. He added a shrug.

"Real reasuring." Sango muttered sarcasticly, rolling her eyes. "When are we going to get there?"

Miroku looked up the mountain, shading his eyes from the morning sun. "In about two minutes." he said. "It's right there."

Sango looked up to see what he meant, and saw a shimmer in the sun. 'In a few minutes, we will be there.' she thought. She climbed faster.

Miroku hoisted her up the last couople of inches, and they stood on a ledge. There was a silver arch before them, with ivy painted around it. Ivy blended white and gold, and ivy blended black and red intertwined all over it.

"It houses two Newbeasts, alright." Miroku muttered. "Let's go inside."

Sango nodded, following him inside the arch.

She gasped. It was beautiful in here! Crystals and ice coated everything. In the center were two stands, both holding something covered in ice. The one on the right looked white, while the one on the left looked like it had been black.

"The Newbeasts." she whispered, walking up to the white one. Miroku stood before it as well, and outheld his hand. The ice around it melted, and it turned out to be two wings. The wings relaxed, and Sango saw that beneath them was something gold. She pulled the wings away slightly, and gasped.

It was a girl, and she was covered in fur, all but her long, black hair. Golden fur.

Miroku smiled. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to the girl's. Sango stared, dumbfounded.

The girl stirred, then opened her eyes. Miroku didn't move. The girl's eyes widened, and she slapped him. "How dare you!" she cried, standing up. Her wings beat furiously, causing a sharp, cold wind to flow through the cave. The ice on the other stand shifted slightly, and a faint rumble could be heard.

Her gaze instantly fell on it. "Inuyasha!" she cried, running forward. She held her hand before it the same way Miroku had, and a pair of leathery black wings came into veiw as Sango and Miroku watched. She pulled the wings wide and wrapped her arms around the red creature inside. "Oh, Inuyasha, I told you to go away." she sobbed. "Now you've been condemned, too!"

The red creature turned out to have the shape of a man. He looked startled, but then he smiled, wrapping his arms around her. "Baka! I told you I wasn't going to leave you in this icy hell." he said fondly. "I meant it."

"But do you know how long you've been here?" she asked quietly.

A moment of silence, and then the man's eyes went wide. "Gods! Has it really been ten thousand years?" he asked.

"Eleven thousand, seven hundred sixty two." she corrected. "I told you to leave. Now all your family will be worried."

"Not likely. In the impossible event my parents come back to life, then maybe. But the only family I had when I followed you here was my brother, and he hated me."

"Ahem." Sango interupted gently. "Would you please explain what's going on?" She included Miroku in this question, who shrugged.

The boy and girl turned to her. "Eleven thousand, seven hundred sixty two years, two months and four days ago this idiot followed me into this cave." the girl said, poking the boy playfully. "I was supposed to sleep until someone woke me up, but he wouldn't leave, so he ended up getting turned into a Newbeast, too."

"I already told you, I would have come back even if you'd pinned me to some tree on the other side of the world." the boy said hotly, staring into her eyes with a scowl on his face.

She looked away. "I know," she said, "I just wish you would have stayed."

He wrapped his arm around her waist. "Stop talking like that. What's done is done, and you can't change it unless you have the Crystal. Which, by the way, we have to get again now that we're free of this ice age."

"I know-" the girl started, but Miroku cut her off.

"What are your names? We are Miroku and Sango." he said.

"And I wish I didn't know him." Sango added.

The girl blushed. "Oh, sorry. My name is Kagome, and this is Inuyasha."

"Feh. Are you going to help us get the Crystal?" he asked. "If it wasn't for that little brat, we'd still have it, but nooo, he had to loooose it." he complained. Kagome smacked him on the arm.

"Shippo didn't do it on purpose!" she cried. Inuyasha just smirked.

"Oh yes, that's right, he's your kid." he said. Kagome blushed.

"That's not true! He's an orphan! And for you information, he was chosen for the Newbeast offering as well!" She slapped him. "We have to find him!"

"How do you plan to do that?" Sango asked.

"Why, we'll go down to the village and find the next Newbeast cavern." Kagome said. "If there's still a village at the bottom of this mountain."

"It is, but-" Sango started.

"Sorry to say it, but you'd stick out like a sore thumb." Miroku said.

Kagome looked down. "Oh, yes, don't worry about that." she said. As soon as she'd said it, the fur on her body began to retract until it was gone. So did the red fur on Inuyasha's body.

"What about your wings?" Sango asked

"They'll help us get down the mountain, and we'll get rid of them then." Kagome replied, tugging Inuyasha to the door.

It was then that the two normal teens got a good look at what the other two were wearing. Kagome was wearing this long, white robe-like thing, and Inuyasha was wearing an old red kimono.

Kagome looked down at him. "You need to change." she said, shaking her head and drawing him over to the small chest on the other side of the chamber.

"No way am I wearing one of those!" he cried, pointing to the robe Kagome wore. Kagome laughed.

"You don't have to." she said. "You'll get something else, trust me."

Inuyasha snorted, but nodded. She pulled out a black clothe from the chest, handed it to him, and shoved him through a door that no one had noticed before.


	10. Spirit Beast

**INUYASHA**

Not really sure at all where I was going with this. They're in some kind of classroom, actually, and some boys came in with this cute-ish little furry thing, and Kouga and his friends started messing with it when it 'bit' his arm (it didn't actually use teeth, just sort of clamped on). And of course, he started wailing like a scared little girl.

I honestly don't know what came over me when I wrote this.

**Spirit Beast**

"Ahhhh!" he screamed, shaking his arm to dislodge the furry ball attached to his elbow. The boys around him leapt to his aid, prying at the little thing. Finally it came off, and went flying across the room, to land on Kagome's shoulder. She didn't even flinch.

Kouga stepped up to her, and reached out to pull it off of her back, when she drew away from him. "Don't touch it." she commanded, turning to look at him, lowering her book.

"But that thing's a vicious beast! It latched onto my arm and I couldn't get it off!" he argued.

"It's off now, isn't it?" she asked. "And anyway, it's all your own fault. You must have down something to it before for it to act so irrationally now. They have excellent memories, even before they open their eyes."

Inuyasha, who was sitting in the table just next to hers, looked up, noted the thing on her shoulder, and smirked. He stood up and walked over.

"Is it yours now?" he asked, plopping down beside her.

She turned to him. "I don't know. It hasn't opened its eyes yet, so I can't tell."

"Well let me tell you, I wouldn't if I were you. You've already got that drake."

"Draga." she corrected. "Not drake. She's a girl."

He waved his hand dismissively. "Whatever. My point is, how do you intend to fend for both of them?"

"I'll get a partner, of course. I need one, anyway."

"Yeah, and how do expect to do that?" he sneered.

"I don't know. I just will. You can't choose your partner. It just happens." She shrugged. "I don't know. But let me ask you something; can you do any of this? Do you have a drake? Or a draga? Do you even have a Spirit Beast at all?"

He harumphed. "Of course I have a Spirit Beast. Who doesn't?"

"Um, excuse me," Kouga interupted, angry at being ignored. "I don't have a clue what you're talking about."

Both shot him an annoyed look. "Of course you wouldn't." Inuyasha replied with a sneer.


	11. World of the Doll Revolution

**INUYASHA**

I'm not really sure where I got the idea for this, or what this stupid world is like, but the writing is not that bad, and I liked it. It kinda reminded me of this one part of a fic I wrote where Kagome's looking for a spur-of-the-moment wedding dress. I won't give you details, no. You've already read the story that happened in, anyway, I just deleted that scene. (actually, I saved it twice so as not to lose it, but you probably won't see it, anyway, so it doesn't matter)

**World of the Doll Revolution**

Inuyasha slid into the store and glanced around. Dolls were on shelves high and low. Some were sitting on the platforms, swinging their legs, some were standing on the ground, some were lying in their places, watching the door, only glancing at him as he entered. They all wore little, slim clothes that seemed only to be wrapped around their torso, calves, and lower arms, in a range of colors. The colors meant something, but it was different in every store.

He walked up to the counter. "Can I help you?" the clerk asked politely, smiling. He noticed with a grimace the bangle on her ear. Doll.

"Yes, I'd like to buy a doll." Inuyasha said with quick nod.

"Oh, please, look around." The clerk waved her hand at the dolls on display.

"Are they all for sale?" Inuyasha asked, turning.

"Yes. If you don't see one you like, we have more in the back. Kara!" She turned back and hollered into the door behind her. Another young lady stepped out, with another bangle hanging from her ear. Another doll.

"Kara, help him look." she commanded, and the girl, with a smile, nodded and stepped around.

"May I ask of your name?" Kara said politely.

"Inuyasha." he responded, gruffly nodding at the wares. "And could you help me a bit?"

"What are you looking for?" she asked.

"I'm not sure. There's something I want, but I can't describe it." Inuyasha closed his eyes, playing back to the dream. He couldn't explain what it was about the girl that had compelled him to go out and buy a doll.

With a sigh, Kara lead him over to a slightly raised platform, and had him sit in the viewing chair. There were mirrors behind the platform, and lights. He realized it was for showing thier dolls to him.

Kara led out a dark haired doll first. She was slim, a smile permanently plastered to her face. The color of her 'clothes' was a bright yellow. Her bright blue eyes held no emotion at all. Inuyasha shook his head. Kara led her back and brought out another. Pale blue wrap, her blond hair framed a blank face with green eyes that stared listlessly around. Catching him, she faked a smile, showing pure white teeth.

"No." Inuyasha said, shaking his head. "Not what I want."

After ten more girls, all with either yellow, pale blue, or bright green wraps, Inuyasha still hadn't bought anyone at all.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I don't think we have what you want at this time." Kara said, sounding truly apologetic. "Maybe you should try somewhere else, or come back later."

Inuyasha nodded. Standing to leave, another woman came running out of the little door that connected with the stores room. She was making a mad dash, and ran flush into him.

"oomph!" the both muttered as the fell to the ground. Inuyasha helped her up.

She had long black tresses, and was dressed in a wrap of deep blue. And she had a small, sliver bar dangling from her left ear, with a silver jewel on the end. A doll, just like all the others, but her blue-silver eyes looked back to him with an expression that dared him to say something.

Once they were both standing, he grabbed her shoulders and looker her in the eye. She struggled, trying to tug away, and Kara lightly touched her back.

"That's Inuyasha, a master. You should be more polite-"

"Do you think I care!" she cried, never looking away from him. "Let me go! I want to get away before they catch me..."

Just then a volley of guards streamed from the small door. "Sorry, sir. This rogue shall not cause trouble again." one appologized.

"No, she shall not." Inuyasha repeated, and he watched her eyes grow wide. He smirked at her reaction. "Kara? I think I found my purchase..."


	12. Warrior in Miko Cast

**INUYASHA**

Again, wasn't sure what to do at the end, but also, I really like the beginning. I know kinda what I wanted this to do, but it really has no plot. No plot I really like, anyhow.

**Warrior in Miko Cast**

"You won't catch me this time!" cried the man running through the path in the forest. He was wearing the almost tight outfit defined of a warrior, so that one had total freedom of movement, his in shades of blue. His dark hair was pulled back into a small pony-tail.

"That's what you think!" came the cry to his right, and he veered to the side of the path as a second figure emerged from the foliage. This one's attire was in shade's of red, his long, white hair whipping out behind him. He made a sort of leap at the first man, swinging around to try to knock him off his feet. The object of his attack easily dodged, leaping into the air.

"You think that can stop-oomph!" The young man hadn't seen the backwards kick, directed with the other foot, until it smacked him in the stomach and succeeded in knocking him down.

The second man was quick to stand over his prey, feet on either side of the young man's abdomen. He pulled his sword from its scabbard and pointed it at his opponent.

"Eh, Inuyasha, don't point that thing at me!" he cried, pulling up his hands in a placating gesture. The other boy only sneered, golden eyes flashing, and reached out his hand in a demanding fashion.

"Hand it over, Miroku, and I might let you live."

"Hah! Like you would kill me, even if you could." the boy snickered back, pulling a small, foot long black object from his belt. On the end of the small pole was a circle, with rings that jangled as he held it up horizontally in between them. Immediately it extended to the size of a large staff, and he attempted to through off the sword.

Laughing, his white-haired combatant said, "If that's how you want to play it, fine by me!" Allowing his sword to convert into a large, gleaming, pearly-white fang, he let out another laugh, which was cut short by an imperious voice calling out to them.

"Inuyasha! Miroku! Is this what you do in you free time! I thought you said you went to an arcade out of town!" the authoritative female voice berated.

The two boys turned their heads towards the newcomer watching them. Miroku grinned sheepishly from below Inuyasha. "Well, that too," he said. "And besides, I just stole Inuyasha entry log, so this was kinda important."

Inuyasha then turned back to the boy. "That's right; now return it, you filthy lech! Before I decide I really have to kill you!"

Miroku looked astonished. "Inuyasha, I am no lewd common priest!" he cried in shock.

"No, you're not; common priests aren't supposed to have hentai souls, especial warrior priests." Then Inuyasha looked thoughtful. "But of course a hentai warrior isn't out of the question. It's the hentai priest that shouldn't exist."

"Before we go into the definition of lech - which, by the way would have Miroku's picture beside it along with a warning sign to females - I came here to say that we are going to get a new student in our class!" the girl exclaimed, clasping her hands.

"Which one, though?" Inuyasha asked boredly, stepping away from Miroku to lean back against a tree, putting away his sword. "We share almost every class, Sango, so that wouldn't narrow it down much. What are his talents?"

Promptly after being released, Miroku stood and pulled the small, black case from his belt. Inuyasha, having been waiting for him to do so, snatched it and returned it to his own belt.

"Well, a good singer, so I think they might put you back in the Chorus, Inuyasha, with Miroku and me. Along with a talent with mechanics, and a bit of a psychic - I think I heard something about some precognitive dreams - a fair martial artist to boot . . . " Sango ticked off on her fingers.

Inuyasha was just starting to think that maybe he could be friends with this kid, until Sango looked up and said, "Oh, and did I tell you I used to train with her?"

Both Inuyasha and Miroku's mouth fell open. "She's a g-g-girl?" they both stuttered simultaneously.

"Yeah." Sango said, cocking her head at the boys. "What's so surprising about that?"

"Well . . . I don't know. It's just, I'm not used to girls being so athletic." Inuyasha said. At Sango's facial expression, he quickly added, "No offence, Sango. You're different. You've been training all your life."

"So has she!" Sango cried indignantly. "And she's good, too! Just you wait; she'll kick your ass, Inuyasha!"

"feh" was Inuyasha's response, as he headed back into the building he was starting to call home. He'd only been here a week, but old man Toutousai had been a friend of his father's, so he'd been a familiar face in a croud of strangers.


	13. Nexus Quest

**INUYASHA  
**No clue why I decided to name anything a Soul Reader, but other than that, this isn't half bad. Stopped in the middle of a cute, important scene, though. Couldn't decide how to describe it. You'll know what I mean.

**Nexus Quest**

She ran along the forest path, her shining black hair billowing out behind her in the wind. The bluish-green feathers gripped in her fingers felt like silk, and the sun on her back felt like warm streams of cheerfulness from the people of her village. Perhaps as a parting gift, as it was her last day in the valley.

The wind that blew through her hair was cool to the touch, like water, and the sounds of the forest around her were calming in her ears. Now was as good a day as any to leave her home. But it sounded better to say to leave for her destiny.

She would find her Soul Reader out there, in the wide world, away from her carefully protected valley home. No Soul Reader was permitted into the valley, for fear the students and children would bond too early. But there were many out there in the EarthRealm, and she would find one.

First to find someone who sold Soul Reader eggs. She couldn't buy hers, of course. She'd have to get him to give it to her, and she could work for him for a while. She would get to be around the other Soul Readers, and around their potential partners. She might even find a Partner of her own.

Everyone knew that a Bonder needed a Partner. You couldn't do it alone. So, eventually, she'd need a partner, too...

"Boy. Come here. I need you to clean out the pens. The chickens are making quite a mess of things."

"Kaede, you old hag, I don't work for you! Why don't you get one of those twittering idiots to do this stuff for you?"

"You do work for me, boy, so get used to cleaning out the chicken pens." The old woman turned back to her paperwork. "If this is correct, we're to be getting another of those 'twittering idiots' you hate so much right about..."

ding, ding the front door chimed as a customer walked in.

"...now. Go see who that is, would you?" She waved him out of her office. Grumpily, he walked out into the front room.

"What is it?" he gruffly asked the young woman standing there.

She didn't cower away like all the other young girls working here did. Instead, she held her head up high and looked him straight in the eye. "That is no way to treat someone who comes for help. You shouldn't act like that! I came to apply for a job."

With a snort, he turned and headed back to Kaede's office. He leaned half in the door, knowing full and well the girl could hear him. "Ya' old hag, you were right. Another twittering idiot for a job."

The girl, her face bright red in anger, stomped over to him and smacked him upside the head. "You shouldn't act like that!" she cried again. Then she turned to the old woman. "I apologize for entering so rudely. I would like a place to stay, and a job, if you don't mind."

The boy made as if to say something else, but caught the warning look she shot him and kept his mouth shut.

Kaede laughed. "Child, if you can help out and keep this lad under control, you can have board, a job, and I'll give you a Nexus Egg."

The girl's eyes lit up. "Really? Oh, thank you, thank you!" she cried, clapping her hands like a little child. "I thought that I'd have nowhere to go after I left Twilight Valley, but you've taken me in! Oh, thank you!"

"Humph." the boy muttered, leaning back against the doorframe. She turned to him.

"And you. I'm sorry I was so rude. Could you tell me your name?" she asked politely.

"You should be sorry," he wanted to say, but held his tongue. That didn't mean he'd tell her his name, though. "What's yours?" he asked instead.

Her anger came back in her eyes, and he almost regretted his words. But he didn't.

After a few minutes, he gave in and told her his name.

"It's Kagome." she said at the same instant as he said, "It's Inuyasha." Each looked up to the other in surprise, and their eyes locked. For a few moments, Inuyasha was lost in the pools of silver blue before him, and Kagome felt that she could just about be swallowed by the golden abyss that was Inuyasha's eyes. But then they each looked away.

"Oh, and about that Nexus Egg, um...Miss..." Kagome stopped, not knowing the old woman's name.

"It's just Kaede, dear. And yes, you can choose a Nexus Egg. Come with me." She stood, and Kagome followed. So did Inuyasha.

She led them to a trap door in the ground, and opened it up. "Cellar," she said in answer to their confused looks before going down. With a shrug, both followed.

Kagome gasped at the sight before her the instant her feet touched the ground. Inuyasha was a few steps behind her, but when he landed, he gasped as well.

For before them, lining the shelves on every wall and even the ones decorating the middle, sitting in little nests on tables, in nitches in the floors and ceilings, in miniature hammoks hanging from the ceiling and windows, and even a few on a raised dias in the center of the room, were thousands of eggs. Most every color, pattern, and size ever imagined for Nexus eggs, and even a few no one could have thought of.

They both wandered around the room in awe for a while, staring at the eggs. Kagome noticed a shining blue one in a hammok near a window, but didn't have the slightest wish to investigate, even though it lit up its entire corner. Inuyasha saw a glowing black one that drew his attention no more then any of the others, even though it was the only one of its kind.

Eventually they both made it to the dias in the center of the room, and they both, at the same instant, drew their hands out to touch the eggs there, before drawing back. Kagome looked to Inuyasha, who looked over at Kaede for permission to touch them. She nodded with a smile, and both youths turned back to the dias.

There were only two eggs there. One was a pale, silvery pink, and the other was a tan brownish gold, with pale specks. Both pulsed as one of the teens drew near.

Kagome's hand extended of it's own accord at the same time Inuyasha's did, and they both touched their respective eggs at the same moment. A flash of light, and both of them hid their eyes with their other hand. A moment later and it had passed, they looked down to see which egg they held.

In Kagome's hand was the pale silvery pink egg, and in Inuyasha's, the brownish speckled one. They looked to each other, at their own eggs, and then they smiled.

'Mother finally led me where she intended.' Kagome thought.

'If my brother could see me now! ' Inuyasha cried in his head.

"Well, then, if both of you have made you're choices..." Kaede murmured, snapping them out of their thoughts. "...I'd like to get back to work. Inuyasha, she'll be having the Evening Mountain suite, and if you don't mind taking her bags..."

"Why do I hafta...a'course I mind...always orderin' me 'round..." he grumbled as he stalked back upstairs to gather the bags she'd left in the main room.

Kagome looked after him concernedly. Kaede noticed this, and went to soothe her thoughts.

"Don't worry, child. He's not really as angry as he seems. I'm certain he's glad you're here. Even if he doesn't know it." she said with a wry smile.

"Alright." Kagome said, but she still looked doubtfull. Then she suddenly remembered something. "Oh, wait, Inuyasha!" she called up the stairs, running up after him. "I forgot about my-"

She was interupted as a loud bang sounded from upstairs. She winced as his violent curses streamed down through the floor. "- Nex Hex." she finished lamely, and slowly trudged up the stairs.

Inuyasha stood at the top of the stairs, staring down at the clothes that littered the steps. "What did you do to that frickin' bag!" he asked as she slowly made her way into the room. "As soon as I got to the top of the stairs, the thing feels like it's on fire!"

Kagome stared at him. "Is that all? I thought it fetched Nakatsu with the way you wailed. He would have brought his curse down on you, for sure." She smiled playfully. "He still might."

"Why did the stupid bag catch fire in the first place?" he asked gruffly, deciding to ignore the curse business until later.

"The only reason I can think of is the Vinculm Magnez. It...ah...gets hot when a...a bond is close. Or particularly strong." She stopped to think. "...but I can't see why it would react now."

"The egg, child. The egg." Kaede said. "You, too, boy. Look at your egg."

Both looked down to the soft shells in their arms. Kagome pressed her palm flat against it's shell, the way she'd seen her mother do to some of the dragon's eggs from their valley. She paused, and then her excitement showed on her face, with a hint of anxiousness.

"What is it?" Inuyasha asked, making his way back down the stairs, curiosity taking over.

Kagome looked up, and then ran up the stairs. "Show me where my room is!" she said hurriedly.

Inuyasha, still confused, led her up the stairs to a door on the side of the hall. It was made of a dark wood, with intricate carvings of mountains and dragons soaring over them. So much detail, you could see the image with only a touch, if you tried. But Kagome paid no head; once she was shown the door was to her rooms, she shoved through.

She strode down the hall quickly, her eyes on the egg in her arms, as if she had lived there all her life. She turned right, into a door closer to the other end of the hall. Inuyasha, following her, instantly recognized the room for what it was - a den. Soft, fluffy pillows of different shades littered the floor. The lamps, which had been lit when Kaede sent the maids in this morning, were cheerily glowing, but it was a soft, dimming glow. The colors of the room were shades of gold, silvers, reds, and pinks, and the scarves draping over the sconces were shades of gold as well, giving the room the look of a real, fiery, wild dragon's den.

She plopped into the largest pillow - a big silver one in the middle - and looked up to Inuyasha. "Come inside." she called. "Quick."

He hustled into the little room (quite large compared to any other room in the house. It was the largest suite, and a den in a suite is the largest room) and sat, a little nervously, beside her. But he was still a ways away, and she was impatient now. She reached out her arm and tugged him over beside her.

"It's starting." she said swiftly, pulling his egg over and laying her hand across it. "They're hatching. Look, you can feel it."

He laid his hand on the egg, and realized he could feel a sort of pulse. "What's happening?" he asked, jerking his hand back.

"I told you. They're-"

She was cut off as a faint cracking sound came from her egg. She fell back, lying on her side and tucking the egg against her stomach, cracking side out.

A small, hair-thin line ran up one side of the shell. It spread out, growing little branches, until finally it snapped open, and a small paw slid out. It shivered, and looked solid red and slick. The cracks got larger and larger, until finally the little red creature spilled out.

It was a fox.

A baby fox. It was damp, but not wet, and its eyes were shut tight. It sneezed, slowly lifting it's flattened ears to listen around itself, then clamping them back down. It opened its eyes to look for the offending sound that so scared it, and caught sight of Inuyasha. The boy was too far away, it knew, to be its mother, so it turned to the warmth at its back, sneezing again.

When it saw Kagome, it let out a squeal and leapt at her stomach, snugling deep into the folds of her clothes.

"How did you know what to do?" Inuyasha asked.

"My mother raised orphan dragons back in Twy. I've been to the orphanage barns before." she said softly, looking fondly down to the little red fox. It was little more then a few inches long, and curled up against her stomach, looked even smaller.

Suddenly there was another cracking, this time louder. Kagome looked up to the brownish egg Inuyasha still had pressed to his chest. It was cracking open - alot quicker than Kagome's had.


	14. Princess Higurashi

**INUYASHA  
**There was something about this one that I really liked, but I can't remember what it was at the moment. Don't like the way I 'ended' it, though...On second thought, that isn't so bad. Not for a story ending, but as a chapter ending, it's fine.

**Princess Higurashi**

A young girl with a long, black braid down her back walked down the sidewalk with her coat slung over her shoulder. She was just going for a walk, calmly enjoying the bright blue sky and perfect weather. It wouldn't be so perfect for much longer, since winter was coming, but a girl could enjoy it while she had it, right?

She spotted a small, furry orange ball on the ground in the alley on her way home, and she watched it for a while to see what it was. The small thing looked like a ball of orange fluff, but a tail popped up as she heard a sneeze. The little thing shivered and curled in tighter on itself. Imeadiately her heart went out to the little thing, and she ran up to it. "Oh, oh, what's this now?" she asked it, picking it up gently.

The fuzz-ball rolled over in her arms, and she saw that it was a baby kitsune youkai, with a bushy orange tail and fox feet. Just a child, and - she put her hand to its forehead - it had a fever. It was wearing no more then a little old-style kimono, and it looked to shiver even in the comfortable air. It sneezed again, and snuggled into her warmth.

"Come on, now." she said gently as she headed in the direction of her house, tucking it farther into the folds of her loose shirt.

She burst into the back door of the house and ran down the halls quickly to one of the tearooms. On the right, on the right...her mother always used the one on the right...

"Mother, Mother!" she cried. "Oh Mother, you won't believe what I-"

She stopped mid-sentence as she opened the door. There, at the table, instead of her mother and brother, as she'd expected, was a young man with silver hair and a young black-haired woman who, oddly enough, reminded her a little of the woman in her mirror.

"Excuse me?" the woman asked.

She stepped back out the door, and stepped back in again. Yep, this was the tearoom on the right. "Gomen, I think I might be in the wrong house." The woman nodded, and only then did the girl notice that she looked upon her disapprovingly. "No, no, this is the right house..." she said as she saw the picture on the wall behind the two people. She had hung it herself. Then she realized - she had come in the back door, so her mother would have been in the left tearoom. "Gomen nasai, I guess this is the wrong room. I'm so terribly sorry. I came in the back door and got confused." She bowed on her way out, muttering as she shut the door, "I've lived here all my life, and I still get lost on my way to the tearoom..."

The young man watched her go. Then he stood up and opened the door to watch her shake her head and open the one across the hall. "Oh, Mother, you'll never believe it!" she cried as she shut the door behind her again. But this time he didn't go and open it.

"Ne, Kikyo?" he asked over his shoulder to the woman still sipping tea at the table. "Do you know who that girl was?"

"No, Inuyasha-sama, I don't. But she was mighty rude, barging in like that." Kikyo said, taking another sip of tea.

"She said she got lost, and she apologized, Kikyo. It wasn't on purpose, and she seemed sincere enough to me." Inuyasha said, shaking his head. "Besides, I think we just got to see the princess, and it's like an hour before we're supposed to."

Kikyo looked up, finally startled. "You think that young woman was Princess Higurashi?"

"Yeah, I do." Inuyasha said, leaning against the doorframe and still watching the door across the hall, where the 'princess' had left.

"But, Inuyasha! She was wearing jeans and a baggy red T-shirt! That's not what royalty wears!"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "'Royals' are just people, yah know. I wear jeans all the time. When I can, anyways." he said, looking down at his own white and gold kimono in disgust. "Or else I wear my good old Fire Rat Fur kimono. I like that better then this, anyways."

"I don't think that was a princess. Even a princess who despised dressing up as much as you do wouldn't go out in public in such a baggy shirt." Kikyo said, turning back, once again, to her tea.

Inuyasha plopped down across from her again. "I guess." he muttered, but he glanced back up at the door he'd closed. But I still think that was the princess...

"Oh, Mother, you'll never believe it!" the young woman who'd interrupted Kikyo and Inuyasha said, sliding into the room just as Inuyasha opened the door to the other. "Oh, you won't believe what I just did!"

"What, Kagome?" the pretty woman sitting at the table asked. A young boy was besides her, a tea cup in his hand, but his other hand was stroking Buyo, the cat, under the table.

"Well, I was so excited and I wanted to show you, but I walked into the wrong room." she said, blushing as she sat down at the table and filled the cup before her with tea. "I was so embarrassed." she confided in her mother.

"Well, what were you so excited about? What did you want to show me?" her mother asked.

"Well, look. I found this baby kitsune in the alley on the way back from my walk, and he looked sick. Can I help him get better?" she asked, holding up the feverish ball of fur for her mother to see. He was sleeping peacefully now.

"What's his name?" she asked.

"I don't know. He was asleep when I found him. I want to help him get better, mother, please? " Kagome begged her mother.

"All right," she conceded. "And unless he has a home to go to when he gets better, you can keep him and take care of him."

"Oh, thank you Momma. Now, who were those people in the guest tea room?" Kagome asked, settling the kitsune back into her clothes.

"That was probably Inuyasha-sama and Kikyo-sama." her mother replied. She always called others of a high order 'sama', even though only Kagome's father was higher then her. She was polite and considerate like that. "Inuyasha is the prince of Inunotaiyoshoru, and Kikyo is a servant of that house that he wanted to bring along."

"And what is he doing here?" she asked. She wasn't being rude - just curious. Higurashi-sama knew her daughter well enough to know that.

"Well, his father and your father are coming up with a treaty today. Our provinces keep getting into battles, but your father and Taisho-sama don't want to fight with each other anymore. Your father's great-great-grandfather and Taisho-sama's father were at war, and they don't want history to repeat itself." Higurashi-hime told her daughter, daintily sipping at her tea.

"What kind of a treaty will they sign?" Kagome asked.

"I don't know. It will most likely be permanent, though. Neither want a war, and I doubt Sesshomaru-sama or Inuyasha-sama want one, either. Sesshomaru-sama will inherit the throne from Taisho-sama."

"Well, Momma, I think I'll go to my room and give this little kit a bath, okay?" Kagome asked, standing up. She wrinkled her nose as she offered, "And I'll be in my ceremonial kimono in…"

"An hour." the young boy suggested.

"An hour." Kagome repeated.

"Thank you, Kagome." Higurashi-hime said with a small smile.

As Kagome stepped out of her tearoom, Inuyasha stepped out of the other. They ran into each other in the hall.

Kagome bumped right into his chest, and would have fallen down on her bottom had Inuyasha not caught her. She looked up into his brilliant golden eyes and blushed. "Ah...ano...Gomen nasai, again, Inuyasha-sama." she said, her arms clutched around the kit resting against her stomach.

Inuyasha set her on her feet again. "Princess Higurashi?" he asked, but it was almost more of a statement.

"H-hai, Inuyasha-sama. Kagome." She smiled. The kit in her arms rustled and drew her attention. "Shh, shh..." she murmured to it. Then she looked back up to Inuyasha.

"Excuse me, Inuyasha-sama. I'm going to my room to bathe this young kit. I found him in the alley on the way home, and that's why I was in such a hurry. He...well, he had a fever when I found him." she said as she rested her hand to his forehead again.

Inuyasha leaned over her to look at the kit. "Do you know anything about kitsune? Or about baby youkai in general?"

"Not much." she admitted. "Would you like to help me?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "If it pleases you, Kagome-hime."

Kagome blushed again. "Just Kagome, please." she asked as she turned to walk to her room.

"Sure. Kagome. You can just call me Inuyasha, then." the boy replied with another shrug. But while her back was turned, he couldn't take his eyes off her.

Gods, she's beautiful...But you don't like her like that anyway! And besides, she's a princess here, Inuyasha! Get your head out of the clouds! You may be a prince, but that doesn't change a thing! Do you know how many people probably fancy her? Besides, she could never be on the same level as you. As he watched her walk away, he thought, Of course not. She'd always be a league ahead of me...

"Would you stop that?" Kagome asked, glancing back over her shoulder.

Startled, Inuyasha blushed. "Stop what?" he asked as innocently as he could manage.

"Stop staring at me. You've been staring at me since I walked away."

"No I haven't!" Inuyasha replied hotly.

"Whatever. This is my room, anyways." she said, opening an ornately carved dark wooden door.

Inuyasha watched her walk into the room, and followed her. It was a lovely room. Hardwood floors, off-white decor with a soft wine tint to add color; a small couch, a window seat, a large bed with a curtain around it, a sheer and a silk layer. The pillows on the window seat were dark wine, the cushion pale pink. The blankets on the bed were white with off-white and pale wine offsets, the couch off-white. The drapes were also wine-colored. Over on the side was a basin of pink marble streaked with gold.

Kagome walked over to the basin and set the kit in it. "Inuyasha, could you step into the hall and ask one of the maids to bring up some water? I'd go and get it myself, but I don't want to leave him here."

Inuyasha shrugged, and stepped into the hall. He waited until he saw a group of maids come by (he knew from their French maid outfits), and then asked one for the water.

"Who are you?" she asked suspiciously.

"Inuyasha from Inunotaiyoshoru. My father is here now drawing up a treaty with Higurashi, right? Kagome-hime wanted some water, and asked me to ask you for it." Inuyasha replied.

"Oh, Inuyasha-sama. Gomen nasai. I'll get right on that." she mumbled, turning back down the hall to run.

Inuyasha smirked to himself. Humans.


	15. Mercenary Princess

**INUYASHA**  
I had no idea what to do next at the end of this, but the beginning's pretty cool. I like the idea, and I'll probably use it later, once I decide what I'm going to do with the story. Might rewrite it a bit, though.

**Mercenary Princess**

He kicked at the stone walls in the dungeon. He was getting bored. He didn't have anything to do. What was he waiting for, anyways? Were they going to kill him? Or worse . . . sell him?

He wasn't going to know until they got there. And until then, all he could do was wait. And he was bored.

A hand reached through the bars and clasped in his hair. He barely opened his eyes, and glared at the guard with disgust. He didn't even flinch.

"Come on." he said, dragging him to his feet. He unlocked the door, and pulled the prisoner out. "The council wants you, now. I think they've found a buyer."

Internally, the man shuddered, but he wouldn't let his captors know that. As they pulled him through the low door and he crouched slightly to get out, he stepped into the light. His silver hair, though he hadn't bothered to try fixing it in days, was tidy. It was always tidy. His golden eyes caught and reflected every shard of light flung his way, and the fur-covered dog-like ears on his head twiched with every sound in the dungeoun. His old red kimono, though tattered and torn, fit his personality and apperearance perfectly, and maybe that was why.

There were a dozen more guards waiting in the hall outside the cell, and they didn't leave until the first had bound his hands behind his back and had the point of a spear aimed to the more sensitive site of skin, just between his shoulder blades. Then there were only four of them left, and they guided him to the top of the stairs and down the hall to the council chamber.

He was shoved to a stand-still just outside the shoji doors, and he could here voices coming from inside, and see shadows of figures moving.

There was the council, on the stand over to the side where they always sat. Nine of them, he knew, even though he could only make out the complete profile of two or three. Then there was another figure, in the center, standing. He couldn't make him out, but from his stance, and the flowing disposition of his clothes, he figured he was rich. 'Some mercenary, probably.' he thought disgustedly. 'Yuck, I'm going to get sold to a mercenary! '

One of the council members moved, as though speaking, and he heard a voice. "Will you assist us in our mission?"

'Guess I was right with the mercenary bussiness.'

But what surprised him was when the mercenary spoke.

"I will." he said. But it was most definately a she. She flicked her head, and he could make out her hair gliding down her back and swinging side to side with the movement.

Another figure from the council nodded. "Then we have something to further appease you."

The guard standing beside him reached out and opened the shoji, and as soon as it had clicked, the point of the spear bit painfully into his back, not hard enough to cause blood, but enough to get him to move.

He stumbled forth into the center of the chamber, and another soldier shoved him to the ground, pressing his head down with his foot. He barely caught sight of the woman mercenary before he fell to his knees.

She was certainly beautiful. The blue garment that clung gently around her torso was only a lighter shade of her deep, cerulean eyes. She had dark violet peices of armor on her shoulders, and the white clothe that hung down before and behind her legs almost seemed to be a pale blue. The sides of her legs could be seen, as the clothe didn't go all the way around, and was instead two garments that went to her ankles. She had silvery boots, trimmed in white fur, and a belt of braided strings of silver which held up the white clothe when it came around her waist, which was as far up as it went. Her sleeves were only sheer peices of clothing that fell to her wrists. Her hair was a long braid that went to her knees, and her shirt didn't cover her back. She had a small, furry tail mounted on her shoulder, and he assumed it was to show she was powerful, and could defeat many opponents, or some mercenary thing like that.

"He is a prisoner of war," one of the members of the council was saying. "and he is yours now. I hope this will help you keep your promise to help us. If not, well, you can have him anyways. We have no use for him."

He raised his head slightly to look up at her again, but before he could look at her face, the soldier behind him stomped his foot down on his head.

"You're a slave." he sneered. "What gave you the idea you could look at your master without permission?"

"Nagiko!" he heard the mercenary cry. "What gave you the idea I wanted you to punish my slave? You have not become my personal slave-driver!" The foot on his head lessened it's pressure, and he looked up into the woman's face. "And besides, I'm not sure if I want to take him on as my slave, anyway. I have to travel, and I don't know if I want to lug around another being."

He was surprised when the little furry thing on her shoulder, which he had mistaken for a warrior's symbol of victory or something, twiched and uncurled to reveal it as a kitsune kit.

The little kit leaned over and whispered in her ear. The man could hear, because of his excellent hearing and dog ears. "Come on, what could it hurt? Bring him along, he may be able to help. Even if he is only a lowly hanyou."

A dangerous growl began low in the man's throat. The kitsune yelped and leapt behind the woman's neck, peering out from behind her hair, but continued to whisper in her ear. Only now, even with his advanced hearing, the man couldn't hear them. But he heard the woman. She nodded, and acknowledged whatever it was he was saying with short, one word questions, and even a smile. Then she turned to the council.

"Will I be given a room in your palace, or will you force me to sleep out in the cold?" she asked.

He could tell the council didn't want to let her in, but when she said it like that, they had to. The one seated closest to the front stood. He motioned to a guard, and whispered something in his ear when he was near. The man nodded, and walked out.

"There will be a hall for you, and a band of maids to attend to you while you are here." he said, and the council left. The merecenary walked out through the shoji on the other side of the chamber, down the hall, and walked with the guard waiting for her to a hall down on the other side of the palace. Far away from the dungeons, he noted.

She walked into one of the rooms, and shut the door behind her. What was he supposed to do now? Then he noticed she had only pulled it after her, not shut it, so he followed her in, shutting it himself.

She walked into the room, and heard the slave walk in behind her and shut the door. She went over and sat on the window seat.

"What's your name?" she asked after looking out the window for a while. The moon was out, it was night, and the stars were so much more beautiful here then at home.

A moment of silence, and then a soft bang and a muffled sound from near the door. She turned back to see the little kit that had come in on her shoulder bouncing around on one foot, crying under his breath, "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! "

She stretched out her hands to him with a smile. He leapt into them quickly enough, babying his foot. "You need to be more careful." she said playfully, hugging him lightly. Then she turned back to the hanyou slave. "What's your name?" she repeated.

He hadn't sat yet, but was hovering dangerously close to the chair by her bed. She almost told him to sit down, but decided he could wait until he told her his name.

"Inuyasha." he mumbled, not looking at her.

She smiled at him, even though he didn't look. "Have a seat, Inuyasha." she said. "It must be uncomfortable to stand around all the time."

"Like you'd know what uncomfortable was." he muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Is he yours?"

"Who?"

"The kitsune. Is he yours?"

She blushed. "Is . . . Shippo . . . my . . . what? "

The slave looked over to her, almost annoyed. "Is he your kid? " He spoke deliberately, as if she was too slow to understand.

"Ah, no! Of course not! He just travels with me, is all." Then her expression got sad. "His parents died over three years ago, before I became . . . a mercenary, I suppose that's what I am now."

"You weren't always a mercenary?" the slave asked, surprised.

"No, of course not. I used to live in a very poor village. I only became a mercenary after my father died, and my brother couldn't help support us. I worked out in the small feild behind our house, and then I went to my grandfather's shrine to work there. That's where I found out that I had priestess powers, and people began to come to me for everything from curing ilnesses to dispelling demons to helping children sleep.

"Then there was a battle, and a hoard of youkai attacked the village in which my grandfather's shrine was. I...destroyed them. Purified them, if you wish, but they're gone. About two hundred or so, I think. I'm stronger now, though, and I defeat youkai. Only youkai. The only reason I don't destroy human warriors is that my powers don't work on humans, but if they did, I would attack their throngs of military as well." She looked angry, and he heard her mutter under her breath, "I hate war."

A few moments of silence to allow Inuyasha to take in what she had said, and Shippo chimed, "I help her out. She took me along, and I've been with her for a long time."

Inuyasha only nodded, lost in his own thoughts and memories.

"They said I was a prisoner of war." he said after a moment. "I've never been even in a battle before, only trained and dueled. They stormed my home, and took me and my mother and sisters to their castle. I...they're all dead now."

"I know." she said slowly. "I...I know. I'm sorry."

"What are you apologizing for?" Inuyasha sneered. "It's not like you did it. And besides, you shouldn't act like that to a slave."

"I told them I don't want a slave, and I still don't. You can travel with me if you like, but you are not my slave. Once I leave, you're on your own." She smiled at the moon. "That's not to say I wouldn't enjoy your company. I would, in fact, but you may leave if you wish. Just wait 'till we're out of here, okay? So they don't get suspicious or something."

"Keh." Inuyasha muttered, turning away.

"By the way, what did you do?"

He looked up, startled. "Wh-what do you mean?"

"They certainly were eager to get rid of you, don't you think?" She smiled over at him. "So I was just wondering what you did."

"They're scared of me. I...my father was a great warrior. He didn't do anything to them, either, but when he got too angry..." He didn't finish his sentence. "The only way they could make him stop was to have him killed by their priestess, and she's dead now. So they've no way to defend against me, if I'm like him..."


	16. The Rogue Sentinel

**INUYASHA**

I love this one! I've reread it fifty times! I truly adore it! I rewrote the ending, though, cause it sucked. Thank me, because the one you get is cool. Isn't really an ending, though, like usual. Maybe someday I'll turn this into a real story.

Yeah, right, when my flying pig gets back from the market with my chocolate chip cookies.

**The Rogue Sentinel**

"Commander! We're under attack by the ParaAvis again! They're convinced we're in their sector, and don't even want to give us time to move out!" a skinny boy with a blue mo-hawk said to the man seated in the Captain's chair in the center of the ship. "We need help, Commander!"

"Ginta, that won't be necessary! We'll take care of this!" the Captain wailed, gripping the arms of his chair tightly. As the lights began to flicker, a frown hit the Captain's face, and he thought, 'The lasers draw energy from the main power core. If we barely have enough to keep the lights on, how will we be able to attack the ParaAvis? '

"Perhaps we do need assistance." he muttered as a red warning light began to flash. "Warning, warning, ship's energy depleting!" a metallic voice called out into every sector. Everyone stopped momentarily to listen. Those in the main room with the Captain paled and turned to their leader. He turned to another of the engineers at a control panel. "Hokaku!" he cried. "Who's within enough distance to assist!"

The youth turned to face his screen again. He scowled. "Only one ship, sir."

"Who's is it!" the leader shrieked in desperation.

"The Rogue Sentinel." Hokaku proclaimed.

The Captain's eye's narrowed. "Inuyasha." he hissed.

"Captain Kouga! The ship's fighters have been launched to space! They'll be within the range to defend our ship in a matter of moments!" one of the attendants cried.

After a few minutes, the fight was over. And Captain Kouga never got the chance to initiate the signal to ask for the Rogue Sentinel's help. Or to refuse it.

Kouga was scowling, and there was a blip sound, and a screen popped up in front of his face from his chair. On it was a young man wearing a goldish-red helmet that matched his outfit, sitting in a black cockpit. He pulled off the helmet to reveal short, spiked silver hair and bright golden eyes.

"Why, hello, Kouga. Nice to see you were under attack again. If Miroku hadn't kicked me out of the ship at the last minute, maybe you would've died this time." He sighed. "I guess I can only wait until the next time, now . . . " He smirked, and the screen blipped off, pulling back into the Captain's chair.

Kouga let out a growl. "That Inuyasha . . . he is so dead!"

Inuyasha hit the button to cancel the connection, and then flipped open the one to the other fighter craft's cockpit.

The girl pilot still had her helmet on, and her red out fit and matching helmet were a stark contrast to the black of the cockpit interior. He could only imagine what his gold-on-black looked like.

She pulled off her helmet and flashed him a warning look that barely hid her smile. "That wasn't nice." she said. "But that bastard did deserve it."

"You know it." he replied, and turned around to head back to the ship, sliding his helmet on again. "Let's get on to our next destination. Miroku!" A second screen popped up, this one with a young man's face, with a ship's interior in the background. "Open the hangar. We're coming in."

"Roger, Inuyasha." the man replied, clicking a few buttons, but not flipping off the screen before him.

"So, Miroku, where are we headed next?" Inuyasha asked.

"Well," the young man said, looking up. "We don't exactly have anywhere specific to be, so I guess a little R&R is in order. Where do you want to go?"

Two matching black fighters flew into the hangar. They both stopped, and two figures leapt out. One was Sango's, clad in the bright, skin-tight red outfit, and the other Inuyasha, wearing his gold one. A technician wearing a blue uniform strode into the hangar as the two put their helmets into the closets along the side. There were three. One had red lettering, 'Sango Taiji'; one had gold lettering, 'Inuyasha Taisho'; and the third had purple letters, 'Miroku Houshi'. In Miroku's cubicle was a purple outfit much like the ones Sango and Inuyasha still wore, and a purple helmet like theirs, as well. There were still two other empty ones.

"Come on; I've got some coffee for you." Miroku proclaimed, and walked back out with the two still fighter-pilot-clad people trailing behind him.

"So, Inuyasha, now that you've had your coffee, where are we going to go?" Miroku asked, watching Inuyasha (now wearing baggy black pants and a loose white tank top) sip his coffee with a blank, almost content face.

The young man looked up from his steaming cup of caffeine into the face of the person before him. Glancing at Sango, who was relaxing on a nearby tan couch (wearing a red mini skirt and black T-shirt) with her eyes closed, he shrugged. "Why don't we go to Sengoku Jidai?" he offered casually. "We haven't be home in a while."

Sango, who's eyes remained closed, said, "No, I haven't seen my family in a while." She opened her eyes and turned to look at Inuyasha. "But we should probably go somewhere more like a vacation spot for a vacation, don't you think?"

"I know the place!" Miroku said suddenly. "It's a little moon called Japan. It's mostly a bunch of islands and vacation spots, but there's this big city on the largest island, called Tokyo. It's the capital city. How would you guys like to vacation there?"

Sango looked up. "I've never heard of Japan before." she said. "Are you sure it's a nice spot?"

"Yeah!" Miroku said. "I have relatives that way. We could visit them. I've gone to Tokyo since I was a kid, even though it's pretty far away from Sengoku Jidai."

"All right then," Inuyasha said, turning to his friends. "Let's head to Japan!"

"Hey, sleeping beauty, it's time to get up! We'll be on Japan in an hour, so get ready, get packed, and let's go!" someone hollered to Inuyasha from the doorway to his room. Rolling over, he thought he heard himself mutter, "Five more minutes . . . "

Hearing the jangle of beads that meant Miroku was about to whack him awake (and he knows the sound from experience), he rolled over and said, "I'm up, I'm up, hold your horses . . . "

He turned to Miroku. "I hope you're happy, priest. You die today."

"You said that yesterday, so what else is new?" he asked, leaning against the door frame.

"Yeah, well, today you'd better say your prayers and come up with a death wish within the next five seconds." Inuyasha said, hoisting himself up to glare at the offender.

"And what are we celebrating, Oh Angered One?"

"Your Deathday..." Inuyasha murmured as he tugged on a pair of black jeans.

"Sorry, Inuyasha, I called dibs," Sango called from the hall on her way to the common room. "He walked in on me while I was in the shower," she added, as though that explained everything.

Actually, it did.

"Ooh, I get to die twice today! What a treat!" Miroku cried, grinning and jumping up and down in an immitation of 'giddy school girl.' "Or else I get to have you two fight over me! Even better!"

Inuyasha threw a black sweater at him as he rummaged through his closet, pulling out a loose red shirt and a black coat.

"But serriously, Inuyasha. We're almost there. Sango's making bacon for breakfast, but we'll probably have an early lunch when we get there. I reserved our hotel last night. Everything's set up."

"Cool" was Inuyasha's response as he ran a hand through his silver-blonde hair, always the perfectionist. He shrugged on his jacket and through some clothes in a brown travel bag, carrying it out of the room. He whacked Miroku in passing, then went to join Sango in the kitchen.


	17. Escape

**INUYASHA**

Self-explanatory - kinda. It's something of a cross between Greek mythology and Japanese-ish - but only enough to actually fit Inuyasha in. And it's nothing like ancient Greece, actually. I stopped because I couldn't decide what would happen next.

**Escape**

He was running. Fast. Down hill, very fast. He almost seemed to fly every few feet. But he had to keep moving, had to keep moving...

He stumbled and fell. He tumbled, down, down. At least he was still going down. He had to get off the hill...But it was more like a mountain, it was so steep.

He skidded to a halt, and stood up. He began running again, ignoring the pain from the tumble. He had to keep moving, had to keep moving. Just up ahead was a river. It was big, and large. He had to at least make it to the river. The river...

He got to the river, all right. He fell right into it, unable to stop. He fell unconscious from the quick temperature change, and from the depth he dropped suddenly, and from the rapid current...

And he floated down stream, tugged along by the rapids. He'd be lucky to live...

Light flitted through the trees, onto the forest floor. There was a gentle swish of water nearby, and the tall trees created patterns on the ground with their leaves. It was quiet, and peaceful, and there was a young girl by the small stream. Well, it wasn't really small, for a stream, but it was small considering it was a roaring river miles up.

"Hey, Sister! Sister, come look at this!" the girl's voice called through the stillness of the forest. She had long black hair, and she was rather pretty. Her bright, silvery-blue eyes swam with different shades of purple in the flitting shadows.

"Yeah?" another young woman asked, walking into the relatively clear space near the bank. She stopped short when she saw what her friend had called her out for. "By Artemis, what is that!"

Her friend was resting on the bank, her legs folded up beneath her, and a head resting on her lap. The head belonged to a man, who had long, silver hair, and his red clothes were rather tattered, and stained with mud from the river. Oh, and by the way - he was soaked.

"I don't know. I was relaxing; I had my eyes closed, and I was daydreaming. Then I looked out into the stream, and he was floating there. I hauled him back out, but..." The girl shook her head.

"We need to get him to the village." said the second girl, helping her friend to drag the young man through the trees.

As he was coming to, the first thing he noticed was the sensations on his forehead. Something cool and wet was resting against his skin. He guessed it must be a wash cloth...but who was applying it?

As he felt the heat - which was radiating from him - evaporate the water on the cloth, someone removed it. He struggled to open his eyes, to sit up, and tell them to give that cool touch to reality back to him, he tried to speak, but he only mumbled something that sounded to him like "...uhng nnnnnn..."

He used all the strength he could muster and tried to open his eyes. A light invaded them, and for a moment he thought he was looking at the figure of an angel, but his eyes snapped shut, and he couldn't force them open again to be sure.

And he fell back into that blessed cool blackness, as he felt the cloth being replaced.

He was starting to wake up again. He didn't feel so hot this time, but he had no clue where he was.

He felt someone watching him, and oddly, he could almost feel their smile, though he hadn't opened his eyes yet. But as soon as he did, he faced the most beautiful person he'd ever seen.

She had long, black hair, and her eyes were bluish-silver, but he could see the soft hues of purple that swam up in the different shades of light. She had skin that wasn't quite pale - it actually was almost tan - but it was still a very soft hue, and glowed like honey over milk. Her soft, pale pink lips smiled at him, and she seemed to be wearing a long, white shear robe from his point of view (flat on his back in a bed).

"Hello." she said gently, in a voice that reminded him of the wind in the trees, and water over a brook at the same time. "You're finally awake."

He put his hand to his head. Either he was dead and in heaven, because she had to be an angel, or else she was..."Good Apollo have mercy, I think I stole your sister." he mumbled.

"What was that?" she asked, still smiling at him, but looking a little confused now.

"I'm dead." he said plainly, turning his head towards her, as far as he could (which wasn't very far, actually). "But what did I do to deserve a pass to heaven?"

The angel blinked. Then she laughed lightly. "Why, no, you're not in heaven. I pulled you from the river, and brought you here to this village. My friend helped, though."

"If I'm not in heaven, then how did an angel pull me from Styx?" he asked, confused. Then his mind caught up with his conscious, and he blushed. "Uh, sorry...I'm very confused."

"I gathered that." the angel said. 'No! She's not an angel! Well...anyways, you're on earth still, moron. No real angels. Not the kind with wings, anyway...'

He sighed. "What's your name, Angel?" he asked.

She laughed. "I'm no angel." she said, smiling. "My name is Kagome. And you are the luckiest man alive." she said with a shake of her head.

"I'll say." he muttered. "I fall in Styx, and end up getting pulled out by an angel."

"Styx? Did you really fall in Styx? I pulled you out of Aer. Just up stream from where I got you is a whole bunch of rapids. Oh, and what's your name?"

"Where am I?" he asked, ignoring the question to sit up. He looked at her, and realized that she was neither wearing the white angelic robes he'd thought he'd seen before, nor the shear clothing he'd thought he'd recognized as gods' clothing. Actually, she was wearing a light, off-white tunic, and white pants that went down almost to her ankles. Her feat were bare.

"You're in Tatemis. It's a small village near where Aer turns to a brook instead of a raging river, and it's right by the edge of the Desert of Crimson Sand. There is a fairly popular school here, which draws students from a wide array of places." She cocked her head to the side. "It's going to let out in a week; do you think you'll be up to travel by then?"

He sat up. "A week? How long have I been asleep?"

"It's been two days since I pulled you from Aer." she replied, shrugging. "You were unconscious then, so I don't know how long you've been out."

"Uh...Yeah, I'll be up to traveling in a week. Why?" he asked, struggling to get out of the bed, but he was tangled up. She laughed, and helped him to his feet.

Soon he was sitting on the bed properly. She went towards the door. "I'm going to go get you some food. You haven't eaten since you got here."

"You haven't answered my question; why should I need to travel in a week?"

"I want you to come with me." she said simply, walking out the door to the right.

After Kagome had left, he got to look at his surroundings some more. He was on a rather soft bed, for a village on the outskirts of a desert - the image he'd gotten from her description made him think of a small little nothing town where people could let their kids grow up in peace - and it was the only one in the room. When she'd walked out the door, he'd seen daylight, so he assumed that his room was the closest one to the outside.

There was a wooden table near the center, and a shelf on the other wall from the bed. There were two chairs at the table, and only a few books on the shelves, and the window, which was on the wall at a right angle to the shelves and the bed and opposite the door, had a dark blue curtain over it, and there was the very faint, almost sweet scent of last night's dinner on the air. Only he had the feeling that no one had eaten in this room since he'd arrived, so the smell might have been coming from another room, or perhaps a nearby building.

The walls seemed to be made of a solid, almost mud-brick like substance, but they resembled the fine, talented work that had been put into their creation - they weren't shabby at all, but they were a tan color. Everything around him seemed to have that earth-tone bit to it.

'That's why waking up to an angel in such an earthy room as this is odd; she really stands out.'

Under the window, there was a small, pen-like object. It was large, actually, but since everything about it blended in with the walls, you sort of over looked it.

He stood up, and walked over to it. It was about three feet long, a foot wide, and two feet tall. Inside, he saw, was a small creature. It looked like a little purple ferret, only it was rather small, only eight inches long. A third of that was it's three tails. It had darker paws and tail tips, a sort of magenta color, and the same color formed the mask around the ferret's eyes. The mouth was a slightly lighter, violet color, and the back was a blend of the purple and the magenta.

"By Apollo, it's a Violet Furo. I've never seen one." he whispered. "They're rare. How'd she get one?"

"So I see you like Kazaa, do you?" said a light voice from behind him.

He spun around. There was Kagome, standing by the table. She'd set something down, and it looked like a leather bag. The most delicious smells were coming from it, though...Suddenly he realized how hungry he was.

Kagome opened the bag, and tossed him what looked like a large biscuit. It was about six inches in diameter. He sniffed at it, and then took a bite. It was kind of warm, and he gulped down the first bite rather quickly.

"That's Kazaa." Kagome said, indicating the ferret-like creature in the cage. "He belongs to my friend back home. I was watching him while I was here."

He turned back, and saw that the little Violet Furo had awoken, and that it had violet eyes (Okay, show of hands...who didn't see that coming? Ah-ha! I knew it! ). But they were tempered slightly with red.

"You never told me your name." Kagome said quietly.

He looked up, startled, as he remembered. So she'd noticed he hadn't wanted to tell her his name, and avoided it, eh? So she given him time to think about it, hoping he'd change his mind? Well, she knew people. Or...maybe he was making to much of it? "Inuyasha."

She smiled. "Inuyasha. Hey, do you have a Furo?" she asked.

Inuyasha started. "No." He hadn't expected that. "Why?"

"Most every one does around here. And in my home town." Kagome said with a smile. "We might need to go get you one. You'll stick out like a sore thumb when we get home."

"You said that I was going with you. Where?" Inuyasha asked. Kagome paused to reach back into her bag, and pull out a map on old, yellowed paper.

"Here." she said, putting it down on the table. "We're here." she said, pointing out a place on the map. He could make out what looked like a slim line, which he figured was Aer. "We'll go here." She dragged her finger over the map, to where it turned almost reddish, to a small dot in the center of the giant patch of crimson. He remembered where she'd said that Tatemis was on the edge of the desert. So that red had to be the desert.

"Woah, now. We're going across desert?" Inuyasha asked, backing up slightly.

"Yes. Don't worry; we'll have quite a few guides and about eight land dragons going with us, so we'll be fine." she said calmly. "I have to cross this desert twice a year, every year, so I'd know if it was too tough. It'll be easy."

"All right. I want to go look around Tatemis before we leave, though. This is my first time on the other side of the river." Inuyasha said, turning back to Kazaa, who was still in his cage, watching them, and he felt almost sad.

Kagome knew what he was feeling, even if he didn't. "Don't worry; we'll find one before we leave." she said.

He turned back to her. "Find one what?" he asked.

"You want a Furo." she replied.

"How did you know?" he asked incredulously.

"I do." she replied, and he realized she was looking at Kazaa the same way he had felt a moment before. "That's why Miroku lent me Kazaa. Because I'm lonely." Then she turned to him. "Let's go shopping right now!" she said brightly. "I've never gone looking, because I had no one to look with. But now we can look together!"

"O...Okay." Inuyasha said, and let himself be pulled from the room.

As it turned out, that little room Inuyasha had been in was a sort of 'apartment' Kagome rented while she was there. There were a few other like it around. They went strait away to one in particular.

Kagome knocked on the door. "Sango, Sango!" she called. "The patient is up, awake, and ready for a shopping spree!"

A muffled voice came from inside. "Since when were you the patient?" And then the door opened, to reveal a young woman, about as old as Kagome, and while Inuyasha figured that a lot of people might say she was as pretty as her, if not prettier, he believed his angel was still the prettiest thing he'd ever seen.

"Ah, hello!" she said to him when she'd opened the door. "Are you feeling better? And what's this about shopping?"

"He saw Kazaa." Kagome said. "He doesn't have a Furo."

"Ah, yes." At the word 'Furo', a small, red creature leapt onto her shoulder. It was alot like Kazaa, except it was red/crimson instead of purple, and it had scarlet where there had been magenta. It was a Crimson Furo, and it's eyes were ruby-tinged-pink.

When she noticed that her Furo had caught Inuyasha's eye, she said, "This is Taiji. She's mine. She isn't my only pet, though. I also have a cat named Kirara back home."

"Well, Sango, I wondered if you knew any good places to get a Bonded." Kagome said.

"Oh, yeah. Kaede's come. She'll be going back with us this year, and she's got great Furo for Bonds. Very intelligent, and they have strong telekinetic once you Bond. I got Ta­iji from her, you know. And I think she helped Miroku get Kazaa." Sango said. "Well, I gotta get back to studying. We've got that test tomorrow."

"Yeah, but I think I've got it down. I'll study again when I get home, anyways." Kagome said. "Thanks. We'll be with Kaede if you need us, and if we aren't, she'll know where we are."

"Hey, Kagome?" Inuyasha asked as they walked away. Kagome shielded her eyes to look around. "What was that back there? You said something about 'bonded'."

"Oh, well, when you get a creature that's as powerful as a Furo, it's best to Bond. You'll see what I mean later." she said with a smile as she saw an older lady at a cart. "Kaede!" she called, walking up.

"Why, hello, Kagome. What are you doing here?" she asked, and she caught sight of Inuyasha. "Hello young man. Did my friend here drag you over to do some shopping? You'd better be careful; you know girls, they'll suck you dry." she said with a wink.

"Actually, Kaede, Inuyasha doesn't have any money in the first place. Someone got to him first." She fake pouted, and then smiled. "I'll be paying." Then she added, "He saw Kazaa, Kaede," as if that explained everything.

"Ah, yes. Well, come look at my brood." And she led them around to the back side of her large stand.

There was a large cage, full of frolicking little Furos. There were Tawny Furos, which were tan, with darker, brown spots and yellowy-tan mouths; and there were more Crimson Furos; Azure Furos, which were shades of blue with darker bands and masks, and lighter lips; a few Emerald Furos, which were rich green with lighter, yellowy green markings; some Scarlet Furos, which were red with orangish markings; and even White Furos, which were white with grayish markings. They were almost rare, but not as impossible to find as Violet Furos. Which she had none of.

"I know a fair deal about Furos." Kaede said. "In their order of rarity, the first to be common and the last to be rare, they are : Tawny Furos, Azure Furos, Emerald Furos, Crimson Furos, Scarlet Furos, White Furos, then Violet Furos, and finally Silver and Gold Furos.

"Have you ever heard of Telekinesis? Furos have that ability, and it's common for it to rub off on their Bonded. The less common the Furo type, the more power it will have. Meaning, while Tawnys are powerful, they pale in comparison to Golds and Silvers..."

But Inuyasha and Kagome had both stopped listening. They were looking over in the corner, where two small Furos slept. They were practically wrapped round one another, and their coats blended together so that you couldn't see what type they were.

Kagome cut Kaede off. "Um, Kaede? What are those two, over there?" she asked, pointing to the corner. The two Furos stood up, and walked up to the front of the cage. Inuyasha and Kagome gasped. They were a gold and silver. The one was solid silver, and where the markings should have been, it was blurrily tinged pale, pale blue, and the mouth was tinged so pale a purple you hardly noticed it. It's eyes were sharp, silver purple, almost the same shade as Kagome's. The other was solid gold. It's markings were very, very faint, and the color of light copper. But it's eyes, which had locked onto Inuyasha's, where the same shade as the boy's. Both of the little ferret-like creatures glittered like real precious metal.

Both of the teens put their hands to the bars on the cage, both thinking, 'That one's mine.', but also that there was no way they could afford them.

Kaede watched all this with fascination. These two seemed to be about the same age, and they were bonding to the Furos at the same time. She knew that the gold and silver were the same age; she'd raised them, after all. She went to open the lid of the cage, to let them see the little creatures, but four pairs of eyes locked onto the lid at the same moment, and it lifted up. The Furos climbed out of the cage, and over to their new masters.

The silver leapt into Kagome's arms, giving a delighted little squeak. Kagome blinked. She'd thought it had said something. It squeaked again.

"Momma!" it said. She looked around, wondering if anyone else had heard. No one seemed to have. Inuyasha was looking as surprised as she felt, but he was staring at his own gold. It squeaked.

She turned back to the little ball of silver fur in her arms. "What's your name?" sha asked it gently. Kaede and Inuyasha turned to look at her, but she didn't notice.

"Ara!" she squeaked. She leapt up, and did a lap around her shoulders. "My name's Ara!"

Inuyasha squeaked something, and she turned to look at him. "Tetsu." he said, shrugging at the way the little gold streak kept jumping from his head to the cage and back.

"Ara." she replied as the said Ara landed back in her arms.

"Ara and Tetsu?" Kaede asked, writing something down on a piece of paper. "I couldn't get Shinu to tell me. I don't think they'd decided when I tried."

"Kaede," Kagome said slowly, "We don't have enough money for a gold and silver."

"Don't worry about it. It would be a completely different story if you chose them, but they chose you. Now shoo. They'll be here in two hours. Go get ready."

Kagome yelped and ran back towards her apartment. Inuyasha decided to follow her.

"Hey, Kagome!" he yelled, finally catching up. Both the gold and silver squeaked in indignation, but both of their owners ignored them. "What's up?"

"The group that's going to take us back to my home is coming today. I have to be ready!" she cried, only half turning to look at him. "And we need to get you some clothes."

Inuyasha looked down. He had noticed that he was wearing an outfit much like Kagome's, but that it actually fit him. "What happened to my old clothes?" he asked.

"Well, they were pretty messed up from the river." Kagome explained as they entered the little one-room apartment. "So I had Kouga loan you those. But he'll want them back before we leave. Oh, and he's coming, too. My mother wants to meet him, since he's doing so good."

"What do you have to get done?" Inuyasha asked.

Two hours and a long shopping, cleaning, and packing session (you wouldn't think it would take that long to pack, since the room had been mostly empty, but it turned out the wall above the bed was a large cabinet/closet, full of a lot of items, which needed sorting, tidying and packing) later found Kagome and Inuyasha sitting on a small ridge, one that overlooked the path from the desert. They were waiting for the escort that would accompany them across the desert. Kagome would be returning home, and Inuyasha was going to go with her. A few of the other people that would be going with them were Sango, the young woman from before, that Kouga, whom he hadn't met yet but had loaned him the clothes, a Hojo fellow who he also hadn't met yet, but no undoubtedly would during the trip, a little kid named Shippo, who was supposedly like a younger sibling to Kagome. But, as you might have guessed, Inuyasha hadn't met him yet.

"And who is leading this procession again?" Inuyasha asked for the fifteenth time in ten minutes.

"I told you before, Inuyasha. It's Sergeant Tonaku." she laughed. "But I don't particularly like him. He's not a bad guy, but I never really warmed up to him, so I'm going to stay within my own tent. You can too, if you'd like. Actually, I think that would be best."

"Huh?"

Kagome laughed again. "Well, I've got a tent I drape over the back of my earth dragon, so that I don't have to see anyone while we travel. Sometimes I leave the tent off, but this time, I think I'll put it up. And you should ride my earth dragon with me, since they won't have sent for another person, and there will be enough room."

"I guess. Does everyone have their own earth dragon to ride?" Inuyasha asked, turning his gaze back to the path. He was almost nervous, she noted. But what he was nervous of, she wasn't sure.

"Well, all of us students do. Some of the guards have desert horses, but most of them just walk." She looked out over the path as well, and lifted Ara to coddle her to her shoulder. Tetsu was sitting on Inuyasha's head, and they were both watching the path, Tetsu feeling the nervous waves from his master, Ara feeling the eager feelings from hers, both getting anxious feelings from their owners.

"Kagome, what are you waiting for? And Tetsu's master is waiting for something, too." Ara had stopped calling her Momma a while ago.

"You can call him Inuyasha." Kagome said fondly to the little Furo. Inuyasha glanced at her, but didn't say anything. "And we're going home. We're waiting on the guards to arrive."

Tetsu squeaked something in Inuyasha's ear, having leaned over to do so, and it sounded like a Furo whisper. Inuyasha laughed slightly. "No, Tetsu, don't. Please. That would not be a good idea."

"What did he say?" Kagome asked.

Inuyasha shook his head, a faint, almost blush-like color tingeing his cheeks. "Nothing important." Turning to the little thing now on his shoulder, he said, "Kagome's fine. You can just call her Kagome. No, no, she won't eat you or anything, go ahead." he said with another laugh.

Tetsu leapt at Kagome, who tried to dodge with a yelp, but the Furo landed lightly on her arm, and nudged Ara up, and they ran. "Inuyasha, where are they going?" Kagome asked.

Ara turned back. "Don't worry, Kagome." she said quickly. "We'll be back. Just call when they get here. We're bored, so we're going to find something to do."

"Well, don't get into trouble!" she called as they disappeared.

She almost closed her eyes. She was getting bored, too. She didn't even register it when she half-fell, half-leaned into Inuyasha, her eyes drifting closed. Inuyasha, who's eyes were also barely open, didn't notice it, either.

But they both noticed it when a voice rang up to them:

"Hey, Kagome! I thought I'd find you up here!"

The two youths sitting together turned to look at the new arrival. Kagome blushed, setting her hand on Inuyasha's shoulder to steady herself as she stood.

"Oh, hello, Kouga." she said meekly, rubbing her eyes. Inuyasha rested his hand on her leg to keep her from falling, and a moment later, he stood, too.

"Why, Kagome, who's this?" Kouga asked, his smile wavering slightly, and his eyes darkening.

"Kouga, this is Inuyasha, the one I found in Aer. He's the one I borrowed those clothes for. Inuyasha, this is Kouga. Oh, Kouga, here are the clothes." she said, walking up to the handsome, dark haired, dark eyed youth and opening her satchel. She pulled out a folded off-white material and a pair of white pants. Inuyasha had since changed into a red version of the clothes (he seemed partial to the color when they'd gone shopping before).

"Oh, uh, thanks. Hmm...Eh, Inuyasha, could I have a word with you?" he asked, turning around suddenly. Inuyasha looked to Kagome uncertainly, but followed the other young man.

When they reached the bottom, and Kagome couldn't see them anymore, Kouga spun around and went to grab at Inuyasha's throat, but the silver-haired boy's reflexes prevented it. So Kouga had to be content to stand there clenching his fists and glaring at him while he said what he needed to say.

"Stay away from my woman." he said, snarling.

"What do you mean, idiot? The only woman I've been near is Kagome, and she doesn't belong to anyone, much less you." Inuyasha said with a smirk.

"She's mine, dog-breath!" Kouga growled.

"And what if I decide to make her mine?" Inuyasha said with a sly smile. "What will you do then?"

"I'll tear out your heart and feed it to the rabid wolves of Nuquirk! So stay away!"

As he walked back up the hill, Inuyasha couldn't help but reply, "She might as well be mine already, for the good that threat'll do yah' against me."

Kouga turned back to see Inuyasha walk past him and head ahead. "What do you mean?"

Inuyasha turned back to flash him a smirk. "I could beat you before you got near my heart. Or Nuquirk." he added, almost as an after thought.

Kouga growled, but Inuyasha just plopped back down into the grass besides Kagome again. A squeak drew his attention to his shoulder. "Go get him, Ooku." he said.

There was a streak of tan leaping across the ground, and it headed for Inuyasha's head, when the boy flipped up his hand and blocked the little viper's attack.

A very enraged Tawny Furo fell back to the ground, snarling up at the boy who had made his master mad. He'd show him...He went strait for Inuyasha's neck, but Kagome let out a scream, and Inuyasha dodged, letting out a shrill, high whistle, that Kagome somehow knew was meant for Tetsu to hear. She somehow translated it to mean, "You were bored, right? I've got a fight; come and see this!"

A streak of gold leapt out from the trees, followed quickly by a silver blur. The silver one, Ara, landed on Kagome's shoulder and proceeded to hiss at the attacker from there, while the gold one, Tetsu, landed in front Inuyasha and snarled at the Tawny.

Kouga blinked. He had a Gold Furo! And - he glance at Kagome - Kagome had a silver! And they were both defending Inuyasha! Did that mean that Kagome would defend Inuyasha too?

"Ooku, come back here." Kouga said, as he turned to go. The Tawny glanced back, and reluctantly turned to follow his master. Kouga looked over his shoulder at the other boy. "We'll finish this another day." he said simply, leaving.

Inuyasha smirked. "Coward. He wants to run away, huh? We'll see what that gets him in the end..."

"Inuyasha, look!" Tetsu cried, staring out over the path. Inuyasha turned. Kagome followed suit, apparently told to do so by Ara.

"Woah." was all Inuyasha could say.

The procession was led by two people on large horses. The first, closest to the front, was a boy, wearing a brown-colored shirt, and brown-colored pants. He had a sword at his belt, and was seated on a large, coppery-tan pony. He looked pretty young to actually be leading the troop, so it must have been the man next to him, who had a graying beard and a suit of white-painted chain-mail over an off-white outfit.

The actual procession was simply grand. Seven large, bay-colored beasts with huge saddles that could comfortably seat five people, each with a silky, brown material hanging down the back. The beasts were a good six feet tall, and eight feet long, down to the tips of their short, stubby tails. They also had short, thick wings that were big enough to scoop up and around to cover the saddle and the five people that could sit in it, probably to protect them if strong desert winds arose. Their stubby legs could walk long distances, and could actually go rather fast. They were dragons, after all, even if only earth dragons, and dragons were experts on speed.

There faces were broad and almost flat, but each had a large horn in the center, and their dark-as-midnight eyes watched the two in an almost restless way, but fixed their eyes on Kagome, and seemed to relax. One snarled, but in an almost affectionate way.

Among the seven large beasts, there walked a good hundred soldiers, about ten percent of them on large coppery horses, like their leaders' horses, only smaller. They mostly acknowledged their presence with a slight nod to Kagome.

"Sis!" cried the young man leading the others.

Kagome leapt up and ran down the hill to meet him. "Sota! I thought Mom said you couldn't come to get me? You're finally old enough, and she wouldn't let you leave!" She laughed.

"Mother wanted to me to accompany you since that young man would be joining you." Sota then seemed to notice Inuyasha, who was meandering down the hill to Kagome. "Why, hello. You must be him. I've never heard Kagome speak of another silver haired-boy, so I was quite surprised when we got her letter saying she'd found you."

"Hi." he said. He couldn't fathom why this girl and her friends would get such a treatment for coming home.

"Sota, why did mom let you come?" Kagome asked.

Sota looked away. "The guard is...rather small this time, don't you think, Sis? The country...was attacked. A hoard of wild dragons, and some villagers said they saw Apollo and Artemis attacking. They stayed a good distance away from our home, though, so Mother sent me to make sure that you came back safe. And," - He turned a searching eye to Inuyasha - "she wants me to watch you. She doesn't know you, and you're traveling with her daughter."

Inuyasha nodded, not speaking. Artemis? And Apollo? Attack a country? That didn't sound right...

"Lad," said the older man Inuyasha assumed was Sergeant Tonaku. "what's yer name? Where're yah from?"

"Um...My name's Inuyasha. But..." He put his hand to his head, trying to remember where he was from. He couldn't. "...I don't know where I'm from. I can't remember...But I think there was a shrine to Artemis and one to Apollo near there, because I remember traveling to them when I was a boy..." He shook his head. "Oh well. If I remember, then I'll remember." he said, grinning.

Kagome giggled. The procession continued on towards the village. Then Inuyasha remembered what he'd wanted to ask her.

"Uh, Kagome?" he asked, leaning close. "Don't you think that's a bit much for a few students' home-coming?"

Kagome turned to him, surprise lighting her eyes, but then amusement. "Oh, Inuyasha. You have no idea." she said with a sigh and a shake of her head. "Come on, let's get going."


	18. Dragon Masters

**INUYASHA**

This story pretty much explains itself, since I started from the beginning. I just never finished it, that's all, and I never actually separated it into chapters, and it's pretty long.

Plus another note. This particular chapter has **severe damage done to a person** at the end. It **isn't just a reference to violence**. **A normal person **(in the day and age this story takes place) **would die**. In this day and age, doctors would be a tad confused as to how this person got such injuries, but they deal with worse.

Not for little kiddies, folks. Be warned. As none of the chapters are actually related to one another, you can skip this. It has a higher rating than anything else in the 'story'.

**Dragon Masters**

Flames enraptured the village, causing the surrounding forest to glow the bright golden that was a reflection of the fire's light. One young girl ran along the path through the forest. She turned back only a moment, to watch her home go up in smoke, though she could no longer make out anything besides the black fog that now hovered in the air and the flames that coated the ground. And then she left.

She was the only survivor in her village.

The bartender continued cleaning the glass in his hands, wishing for once that he could be home, with his wife and daughter, instead of here, trying to tune out the talk, even though he was eager, curious to listen to what his customers were saying.

"It's a shame." one man was saying. He had his fairly long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. He was sitting at one of the tables closest to the counter, along with two of his buddies, and a woman with black hair had pulled up a chair besides them. "Those poor villages, gone. They went up in smoke. Those blasted beasts, they should be slaughtered! If I ever see one-"

"If you ever see one, Marriok, you'd most likely be dead in a few seconds." the woman said, laughing lightly. "But not all dragons are wild, you know. There was an old art of training dragons, long ago, but it's mostly gone now. I do believe there are a few of them left, though they are probably too old to go hunting the wild beasts anymore, and would never find a fool crazy enough to train under them."

"Yes, Nimi." said the second man, who's hair was an astonishing hue of golden red. "You're right. There was that old art, long ago. But I don't believe there are any left. And let us just hope that those beasts never come near here.

"Of course, Kichak." Nimi replied. "But we cannot forget that it is very likely. The only thing standing between us is a village closer to the North Mountains. I believe it's called...Oh, I just can't remember."

"Marli." the bartender interrupted. "The town is Marli."

"Is that all?" the third man asked. "Is that all standing between us and them? Bartender, I'd like another Aaimn, please."

"'Course." And the bartender went to fill up a glass with the bottle of almost crimson liquid, that was also kind of purple. He walked around the counter and handed the glass to the man. "That'll be seventy kiissaa, sir." As the man went to dig through his bag, which was hanging by his chair, Nimi stopped him with a hand on his arm. When he turned to her, she smiled.

"I'll get it, Numio." And she handed the bartender a handful of small coins, all bluish-green.

"Anything else for yah?" the bartender asked.

"I-" Marriok started, but he was cut off by the door slamming open, and a grubby-looking young girl walked in.

The bartender frowned. She looked like she'd been running all night, and it was almost dawn. Why would she suddenly slam into his tavern. Why not the grocery store down the road? But he just had to pick the spot closest to the track to place his tavern, didn't he? So that he got strangers all hours of the night.

But she was a customer, and she might have money, and she looked like she needed some help. So he asked her what the problem was.

"Dra...dragons!" she forced out. "Dragons attacked my village! It's gone!" And then she began to sob. Nimi made her way over to the young girl, and patted her shoulder.

"There there, now. Calm down. What's wrong again, girl?" she asked, praying she had misheard.

The girl looked up, and while tears still streaked her face, understanding lit up behind her eyes. Of course they had no clue what she was talking about! They didn't know where she lived..."My village, Marli! It's gone! Completely! There's nothing left! It was attacked by dragons late in the evening!"

The bartender, Nimi, Marriok, Numio, and Kichak all froze, and their faces went white.

Unbeknownst to the six other people, another person, wearing a black cloak, slipped out the door.

"You're not trying!" a voice rang out over the meadow. The sky was blue, the air was warm, and there was a strong, warm breeze blowing. There was also the soft flapping of wings on the air. "Stay aloft! This breeze should be helping! Use it, don't be used by it!" said an old woman, about in her late sixties. She was standing on the ground, watching her pupil with squinting eyes. They were in a clearing in the forest; a very large clearing - it was more like a meadow.

The was another person with her, sitting on a soft blue saddle, wearing a tan-colored outfit, which consisted of a dark, almost maroon colored helmet with a shaded visor; darker tan gloves that went up to the elbows; a tan tonic; darker, light brown-colored pants that stopped a few inches above the ankle; and brown, leather shoes that just met the pants, and often slid to show skin.

"Master Kaede, this is hard enough!" said the pupil, his voice distorted by the chin strap of the helmet. But he seemed to try to follow Kaede's advice, closing his eyes and letting the wind guide him. Leaning to the side, he smiled when he shifted, and was no longer being buffeted by the wind, but held up by it. He opened his eyes, leaned down low to stroke the sliver scales beneath him, and whispered, "That's right, Sionae. That's it. Now let's try those spins we started yesterday."

The pupil and dragon went and did a few flips in the air, before coming down to rest lightly on the ground. The pupil slid off the dragon's side, and walked over to Kaede. "How was that?"

"Hmph. You need some practice. Now go inside and wash up; supper will be ready soon. Shippo has been working had lately to get those cooking skills right, and while you may not be the world's greatest chef, and cooking may not be your greatest talent, your still better then the kid. Now, hurry." Kaede said, leaning back against the tree behind her. It was the only tree in the meadow. 'A student is hard enough, but one as stubborn as this kid is too much for me and my old age...'

The pupil ran towards a small cabin near the edge of the meadow, calling, "Shippo, training's done!"

Kaede slid to the ground, closing her eyes. A few minutes later, she heard the clomping sound of a horse's hooves entering her clearing...uh, meadow.

She cracked open her eyes, and looked over to see the coppery horse stop a few feet away from her. It's rider, a person wearing a long, black cloak, slid down, and pulled the hood back.

"Kaede! Kaede! There was another attack on a village the other night. A young girl was the only survivor of this one!" she said, letting her long, dark brown hair billow in the strong breeze.

"And what do you expect me to do about this, Sango?" Kaede asked.

"Well, a Dragon Master is all that can stand up to those beasts, Kaede." Sango said, rather embarrassed at having to explain this to the great, old woman. Could there possibly be something wrong with her plan?

"Well, not if that Dragon Master can't hardly stand." Kaede said.

Sango looked to the ground. "Oh, yes, I forgot your arthritis." she mumbled. But she looked up at what Kaede said next

"The only one in my charge who could help you is my student."

Kaede, with Sango's help, stumbled into the cabin. They were met with a young boy sitting before a pot of water, stirring it. It smelled good - or at least not burnt - and appeared to have vegetables in it, along with some meat. His little feet were fox paws, and a fox tail twitched behind him. He was wearing an old-style kimono, and his red hair was done into a small tail.

Also, there was a girl sitting in a chair by the table, her head rested on her elbow, which was lying on the table itself. Her other arm was resting across her lap, and her eyes were closed. She was wearing a cobalt dress, and her hair was pulled into a pony-tail behind her head.

The young boy leaned down in front of the fire-pit underneath the pot of soup, and raised his hand towards it. "Kitsune bi!" he yelped, and a small blue flame roared down from his fingers to bring the blaze to a more animated state.

"Kagome?" Sango asked, walking towards the younger girl, currently 'napping'.

But she sat up and looked at her friend. "Sango!" she cried, wrapping her arms around the girl's body. "Oh, what are you doing here?"

"I came by to tell Kaede of the dragon attacks. They've been getting more and more frequent." Sango stated. "Just yesterday, the whole village of Marli was burnt down. Only one little girl made it out alive."

"Oh, that's terrible!" Kagome said, turning to Kaede. "Are you going to go to help the people?" she asked.

"Supper!" Shippo cried, hopping over to the table with four bowls of soup and setting them down before the others. "Enjoy!"

Shippo hopped into Kagome's lap while she had some soup, the other two sitting down as well for a moment, to eat his delicious (for Shippo) concoction.

"No, Kagome." Kaede said after a moment. "You are."

'Kagome is Kaede's pupil? ' Sango thought. 'I knew Kagome was learning under her, but I didn't know she was learning to become a Dragon Master! '

"What?" Kagome cried, sitting up. "B-but Sionae and I aren't ready to go alone!"

"Yes, you are. You are good." Kaede argued. "Shippo will be going with you."

The little kitsune kit looked up at his name. "Me?" he asked.

"Shippo, are you going to eat?" Kagome inquired, looking down at him.

Shippo shook his head. "No. I'm not hungry."

"Then what did you make four bowls for?"

"Um...Kouga said he'd be-"

Shippo was cut off by the sound of a horse clomping into the meadow outside. There was some noise, and then it was quiet. A young man burst through the door.

"-coming over for dinner today." the kit finished.

"Kagome!" the man said, walking over to grab her hands. Kagome smiled politely.

"Hello, Kouga." she said, lightly pulling her hands from his grasp. She directed him to a spare seat. "I hope you don't mind that we're only having soup. But it's good - Shippo made it!"

Kouga knew that meant it wasn't pleasant, but he didn't say anything as he gulped down the watery soup. Kagome treated the kit like her own child, and he didn't want to make her mad. "It's nice." he said politely. "But food is always better when you're home." he added sadly.

"Oh, Kouga, don't go getting all depressed." Kagome said sternly, but gently. "You are always welcome here, all right?"

"Thank you, Kagome." he said, smiling at her.

The man leaned back against the tree, a black dragon besides him. It's red eyes glowed, and it's hide sparkled with the gold scales strewn amongst the black ones.

Closing his eyes, he sighed. His master wasn't home at the moment, so he'd gone off to relax, and, naturally, his dragon, Matsuke, had come as well.

"Matsuke, why do I have such odd dreams?" he asked, turning to look at the cat-like lizard beast beside him. "I've never dreamed so oddly before now, but this dream was so vivid, I can't just blow it off."

Dream Flashback:

The boy was in a field he didn't recognize. He'd been all over the West Mountains, so surely he was no longer there. But this field was filled with fire.

He stopped as he thought her heard a scream. Following the sound, he came upon a young woman bound to a wooden shaft, a pyre slowly inching up to her. She screamed and screamed, and then the boy couldn't stand it anymore. He stood up and ran at her, untying the bonds. She fell back, but before she hit the ground, she disappeared. Then the world around him disappeared, shifting like water, reforming into a lake, a waterfall, and a small bank.

He stood on the bank, and watched the water. The young woman whom he'd untied from the wooden stake appeared hovering over the water, a silvery dragon beside her. The dragon stretched it's wings around the girl, and when it pulled back the girl was wearing a sheer skirt that tied on one side, and a shirt that was white. The shirt showed her shoulders, one strap of fabric near her neck, another just below the shoulder. There was no fabric between that second strap and her wrist, where there was another strap the came around and attached to her middle finger, but there was loose fabric dangling underneath. The bottom fabric went on for about two more feet past her hand, and came to a stop in a point.

"Thank you, Inuyasha." she whispered, but he could hear her. "You saved me."

"What are you?" Inuyasha asked, stepping forward. He spotted her feet, her toes barely touching the water, but ripples flowed out nonetheless. "Are you some kind of dryad? Or nymph?"

The woman laughed. "No, I am not a spirit...like yourself." she added when she looked him over. "But I am like you."

"I don't understand." Inuyasha said, shaking his head. "What are you? What about us is alike if you are not like me?"

"I am alike to you in soul, in mission. But not the point of my being. Yet. But perhaps soon. If that is true, then you will know who and what I am then."

Her dragon chirped, and she laughed. "Oh, fine." she said, turning back to Inuyasha. "My dragon says I should give you something." she explained. "Come here."

"But-" Inuyasha started to say that she was standing on water, but then he noticed the stones that made a path to where she was. He lightly stepped from one to the other, until he was little under three feet away.

"You are the only one who can come so close," the woman said. "So I will give you a special gift. But know that when I see you again, I will know you, but only with my heart. I will not remember this."

"All right." Inuyasha said carefully.

And the woman leaned down, lightly brushing her lips to his. When she leaned back, he stared at her, and she smiled. "A kiss to bind our souls." she said, and he felt the words echo through his mind. And then she was gone, her figure vanishing into mist.

End Dream Flashback

"Matsuke, it was too real to disregard." Inuyasha said, leaning back. "I wonder what it meant."

It meant that you need to get more sleep. the dragon replied through his mind with a smirk, lashing his tail. But maybe you're right; maybe it does mean something. Maybe she's your soul-mate, and she's trying to contact you.

"I can only wonder..." Inuyasha said, closing his eyes.

"Inuyasha!" a voice called up the hill. "Inuyasha!"

The boy opened his eyes to look down the hill to the young man. "What, Miroku!" he hollered.

"Inuyasha, there has been an attack on a village! Marli! The dragons are coming closer! You have to stop them!" he cried. "Inuyasha! You are the only Dragon Master young enough to fight them! And Matsuke is the only dragon with enough agility to battle!"

Inuyasha stood up, his hand clasping his sword's hilt. "Matsuke!" he called, and the dragon shed his relaxed pose to take up a fighting stance by Inuyasha. Inuyasha climbed his back, and he launched himself up above the trees to glide with his dragon to the cave a way up the mountain's side.

Slipping in, he dismounted Matsuke and ran to the back room where his master was.

"Toutousai, Toutousai!" he hollered. "Toutousai, I'm going to go fight the North dragons that threaten our land!"

"Now hang on a minute, Inuyasha. Your father didn't leave you in my care so I would let you fly away to your death! One last thing, let me give it to you, and you can go." the old youkai said from behind the rice-paper shojii to his room. He stepped out, holding a leather bag.

"Your father was a great Dragon Master at one time, did you know that?" he asked. "He was trained under me, and retired of the battle a little before you were born. He became a peace fanatic, or at least as peace loving as a youkai can get. And he wanted me to give this to you."

The old man reached out a hand and handed the younger youkai the bag. Inuyasha pulled out a silver ring from it's depths. It was made of some metal, and it was of a dragon. The beast looked back royally, clutching a garnet jewel to his chest, his wings spread over his tri-horned crest.

"What is this?" Inuyasha asked, turning the ring over and over in his hands. On the inside, words were engraved in the ancient tongue. They said 'One Half of Whole Kin'. It glowed softly, and he slid it on his finger.

"Only the true Master of Dragon Kin can wear it and pull it's true power forth. According to legend, there are two destined Masters of the Dragon Kin, and they be soul-mates. The King must wear the ring, and he is the only one who can call forth the Power of the Dragon Seal from the ring. The Queen must wear a pendant much like the ring, and she is the only other being who can call forth the power of the seal, but must do so with her pendant." Toutousai explained. "If you wish, I can show you the scrolls."

"No thanks, old man. Not interested. So, now can I go defeat the rogues of the code?" Inuyasha asked, remounting Matsuke.

Toutousai sighed. "If I say no, you'll go anyway, right?"

"Of course," Inuyasha said. "But you'll say yes, right?"

"Guh-bye!" Toutousai said, turning around and walking back through the shojii.

Inuyasha smirked, and rode out of the cave. Going down the mountain, he spotted Miroku, so he pulled down.

"Hey, Miroku. I'm going - are you coming?" he asked.

Miroku looked up. "Of course." he said with a smirk. "Let me get Satsuuke." he said.

Raising his hands, he muttered an incantation under his breath, and, with a puff of violet smoke, an imp dragon appeared. He was covered in soft, pale violet fur, with downy whiskers flowing from the top of his head, and feathers on his bird-like wings. His eyes were a blue-violet. He snorted out of his slim snout, and a wash of sparkling violet dust rolled out.

It was charmed dust, of course, but it was still purple. Inuyasha didn't understand why he'd chosen a purple dragon - an imp no less! But he was human - and humans were weird - so besides the occasional wise-crack, he didn't bother with opening his mouth.

Satsuuke was excited. Miroku! Are we going to go battle those rogues? he asked telepathically.

Miroku smirked. Of course, Satsuuke. Let's go to town. He repeated his second statement out loud for Inuyasha and Matsuke's benefit.

"Yeah, let's go." Inuyasha said as Miroku readied himself on Satsuuke's back.

And they flew down the mountain, Inuyasha, of course, in the lead (he was the Master of Dragon Kin, after all, and Miroku wasn't even a Dragon Master, only a Dragon Zeal). Very soon they would reach Naomikau, the start of their journey.

After Kouga had left, Kagome had taken Shippo to bed, and as soon as he was asleep, she walked back out.

"Kaede," she asked. "If Shippo is coming, will he ride with me, or on Nakshu?"

"He will ride Nakshu, and Sango will be going, too, with Kirara." Kaede replied, tidying up the table and what was left of dinner. Kagome took the dishes from her and went to the basin to wash them.

"The feline dragon from her village?" Kagome asked, picturing the dragon the last she'd seen it. It was a yellow cat, with flames about it's ankles and the juncture point of it's wings. It had fangs, and was still very cat-like, like most dragons, anyway. It's wings were skin, covered with velvety fur, and it often had them clasped to it's sides. It was the only dragon she had ever seen that could transform into a small, almost normal cat, only in both forms it had two tails. Sango could understand it, but she couldn't communicate with it the way Kagome could with Sionae - telepathically.

"Yes, Kirara and Sango will join you." Kaede said.

"We'll leave tomorrow, then." Kagome said.

"That's fine."

Kagome! Kagome! Someone's flying down from Western Mountains! They're heading for the town of Naomikau! a voice cried in Kagome's head.

"Sionae!" Kagome yelled, running out the door to see the silver dragon staring up at the closest mountains - the Western Mountains. Sure enough, two black dots were gliding towards the closest town, which was Naomikau. "Sionae, speak with the larger one. The one in the front." she directed. "Ask them who they are and what they're doing."

Sionae obeyed. Dragon Kin, this is Sionae of Silver. My master wants to know your destination, and who you are. Do you have a rider, or are you rogue? she asked.

A voice bounced back into her mind, and Kagome couldn't hear it. Of course I'm not rogue! I have a rider, a master of my own!

My apologies. We can not see you that well. Who are you, then? And who is your master? Sionae bowed her head, though she knew he could not see her.

You are forgiven, Sionae of Silver. I apologize for being so rash and quick to assume. I am Matsuke of Sable. My master is the Master of Dragon Kin. Matsuke said. She could hear the pride in his 'voice' when he spoke of his master. We are accompanied by a young man, a friend of my master, who is riding an imp dragon, who is Satsuuke of Violet, and he is a Dragon Zeal himself. His name is Miroku.

And your master's name is... Sionae prompted. There was a moment of silence, and for certain Matsuke was speaking with his master, asking permission to tell her.

Eventually he must have gotten it. Inuyasha. That is his name, Sionae, and what everyone calls him. What is the name of your master? he asked.

Sionae turned to Kagome. He wants to know your name. she said to her master alone. Can I tell him?

Kagome nodded. So Sionae told Matsuke. Kagome. She is a Dragon Master, more powerful then most, and may even be able to rival the Master of Dragon Kin's mate, the queen.

I'm not sure, but I've never seen your master, so I cannot say. Matsuke replied. Oh, and we are heading to Naomikau. My master wishes to stop the attacks.

We will be heading there tomorrow. Keep you master there until we arrive, and mayhap we will meet. Sionae said.

If fate would have it. Matsuke declared.

Sionae smiled a dragon smile. Sometimes it can't hurt to help fate out a bit. And they left it at that.

"Well?" Kagome asked.

His name is Matsuke of Sable. His master is Inuyasha, the Master of Dragon Kin, higher then any other Dragon Master. They are traveling with a Dragon Zeal named Miroku, who is on an imp, Satsuuke of Violet, and are heading towards Naomikau. I told him we may meet him there.

"Well, then we'll have to go to Naomikau tomorrow, eh, Sionae?" Kagome laughed. "Come now, let's go pack.

One may wonder how to pack with a dragon's help, when you're packing in a house made for people, not dragons. Well, when there is a large, open-air garden just outside the door, the dragon sit there and see everything you do.

That's how Sionae helped Kagome pack. Sionae usually slept out in the garden, as well, to be as close to Kagome as possible. That was the case tonight.

After packing many clothes appropriate for her for the journey (four outfits like the ones she wore in practice; her helmet; two dresses, one blue and one white; a white skirt; a fancy white shirt; a pair of loose black pants; a pair of black pants that were loose around her ankles, but form-hugging over her legs; one off-white, loose nightgown; a pair of boots for riding; a pair of boots for hiking; slippers for the dresses; comfortable tan shoes for everyday; a blue cloak; and an old style kimono), she packed some appropriate clothes for Shippo (four kimonos like the one he wore before; a riding outfit like hers, but smaller; a helmet; some baggy black pants; a white shirt; a dress outfit made of fancy-style green pants and a fancy green shirt; and a small, dark green cloak), some things for Sionae (herbs; polish for her horns and scales; an extra saddle; a harness for while they were in the town; and some dragon-safe chocolate she'd made herself), some money and a few provisions, and went to bed.

Shippo was sleeping in a small bed beside her own, and Sionae was just right outside, watching her master, so she slept easy.

Inuyasha and Miroku had roomed in the local inn, Stone's Throw, that night. So they woke up in the morning to the sound of mental dragon-song. Miroku had grumbled and tried to go back to sleep, but Inuyasha was accustomed to the morning ritual, since his dragon was always near him. So he got up in a good mood.

"Hey, Inuyasha! Why are you in such a good mood?" Miroku asked him.

"I don't know. Maybe because I feel like it, maybe because I'm Master of Dragon Kin, and this is the first time I've woken up to hear Matsuke sing in a chorus. I can hear Satsuuke, too, now, and every other dragon that's speaking openly." Inuyasha said.

"Master of Dragon Kin? Since when?" Miroku asked. He'd studied the old scrolls Toutousai had, so he knew what was going on.

"Since Toutousai gave me the ring." he said.

"The Ring of the Dragon Seal?" Miroku inquired. "Have you found your mate yet?"

Inuyasha threw a pillow at the other boy. "Pervert." he muttered as stomped out of the room to take a bath.

Miroku smiled after him once the pillow fell from his face. "He's such a lovable guy, ain't he though?"

"Kagome, are you sure we're ready to go?" Sango asked.

"Yeah, if you are." Kagome replied. "Shippo, Sionae and I are ready to go. Oh, and Shippo! I brought some extra of Sionae's chocolates, and I packed an extra one of Nakshu's saddles and a harness for him, too, okay?"

"Yeah. Thanks, Kagome." Shippo said, hopping onto her shoulder.

"Shippo, you're only a Zeal. You have to summon your dragon." Kagome said with a laugh.

"Oh, yeah, right. Can you help me?" Shippo asked, hopping back to the ground.

"Sure. Just repeat after me." Kagome said. "Darkest winds, nightly glow,"

"Darkest winds, nightly glow,  
In the shadows, raise and grow,  
I call my playmate, Nakshu Green.  
Come to me, comrade, and we shall sing  
Of nightly cohorts taking wing."

With a puff of greenish smoke, there was a dragon before them. It was an elvin dragon, with pale green fur and twig-like horns. It's wings were like pale green moths' wings, and it had two pairs of them, like a moth. Elvin dragons, instead of breathing fire, breathe water, like dryad dragons. It snorted, and a small bit of stream came from it's nostrils.

"Hello, Nakshu." Kagome greeted him. He was just a child, for a dragon, and was just the right size for Shippo to ride. He nodded to her in greeting as well, and then went over to Shippo. "Now, Shippo; when you get older, you must say 'companion' instead of 'playmate', understand?"

"Yes, Kagome." Shippo replied, as his dragon nuzzled his face.

So your mother is finally teaching you how to summon me, yes? Nakshu asked. Shippo was the only one who heard.

No. She's not really my mother, you should know that. My mother is dead. Shippo replied through their telepathic link.

But she acts like it, yes? Nakshu inquired.

Yes, she does.

"Come on, you guys." Kagome said, already seated on Sionae. Shippo hopped onto Nakshu, and they rose above the trees, heading for the village of Naomikau. She unconsciously touched the pendant around her neck as they flew.

Inuyasha and Miroku were sitting in Stone's Throw's bar, lightly drinking some of the crimson Aaimn the bartender served.

"So, do we leave Naomikau tomorrow or tonight?" Miroku asked his buddy.

Inuyasha was about to respond, but stopped. Matsuke was speaking to him. "Tomorrow night." he said finally.

Matsuke and Satsuuke were tied up outside. They were most certainly getting odd looks, but they were speaking with their masters, so they didn't care. Matsuke was sitting closest to the wall, and he was just watching the passers-by with an indifferent expression, but Satsuuke kept attracting attention - from the girls in the village. They kept petting him, stroking his fur, and every once in a while he would snort and they would giggle at the pink and violet dust the was suddenly in the air.

That's just sad. Matsuke said.

What? Inuyasha asked from in the tavern.

He's getting the attention of every female in the vicinity. Don't tell Miroku that, or he'll be outside in a heart-beat. Matsuke sounded disgusted.

He's already coming out. Inuyasha said, sounding amused.

Ugh.

Miroku walked out of the inn and over to his dragon. "Why, hello, Satsuuke. And who are all of these fine young ladies you've caught?" he asked.

"Oh, is this yours?" one of them asked.

"Yes. This is my dragon partner, Satsuuke." Miroku said, laying his hand Satsuuke's back. Satsuuke instantly nudged his hand.

I've got an itch on my right wing. Could you get it, Miroku? Satsuuke asked.

"Of course, Satsuuke." Miroku replied, reaching out to scratch the base of the wing mentioned.

"Oh! How did you know where he was itching?" one of the other girls asked when Satsuuke's wing twitched in relief.

"Why, he told me, of course." Miroku said. "Dragon's are telepathic with their partners, each other, and of course the Master of Dragon Kin, who can hear all dragons' public messages."

"Really? So, could you prove it?" another girl asked.

"Of course." was naturally Miroku's response. He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to the girl who'd asked, also handing her a pen. "Write something done for me to tell him to do, and I'll tell him telepathically."

The girl scribbled on the scrap of paper, not letting the dragon see, and then handed it to Miroku. He read the sheet, looked at Satsuuke, and grinned, speaking with him mentally.

Satsuuke nodded a bit, and walked over to the girl, crouching down so she could get on his back. Looking a little confused, she said to Miroku, "This isn't what I wrote!"

"He wants to show you personally. Oh, well, as close to it as he can, anyway." Miroku shrugged, but smiled.

The girl climbed on, and Satsuuke flew into the air, over to the forest, and let out a stream of the dust that took the place of fire, only this time bluish. Coming back with the girl, she looked a little dazed.

"I wrote breath fire over the forest!" she protested. "That's not what he did!"

"You see, Satsuuke is an imp dragon. He can't breath fire, only that dust, but he has many different kinds. That which he did over the forest was a sleeping powder. Go on into the forest, you'll find most of the animals asleep." Miroku explained. Some of the girls ran off to see. The rest smiled at him and stayed where they were.

Inuyasha came out of the inn, looking a little angry. "Miroku! What are you doing, letting someone else ride your dragon!" he cried. The girls looked scared of him.

"Hey, how did you know?" one of them bravely asked. Inuyasha turned to them, but he wasn't really angry at them, so he spoke almost gently.

"I could hear it. Not to mention Matsuke told me." He mentioned his dragon, who nodded and looked at Miroku disgustedly.

"Oh, girls, do you remember that I told you the Master of Dragon Kin could hear everyone who is speaking openly?" Miroku asked. The girls nodded. "Well, this is him."

Inuyasha closed his eyes, counted to ten, took deep breaths...none of it worked. Only one other way to calm him down...He smacked Miroku upside the head.

Miroku grabbed his hand, and held it out for the others to see. "You see that ring? That proves it. Only the Master of Dragon Kin can wear it."

Inuyasha jerked his hand away. "Maybe you read the scroll wrong, but other people can wear it, too! My father wore it, and he wasn't the Master. It's just that only the Master can draw the power of the Dragon Seal from the ring."

"Right. It has been three years since I read that scroll." Miroku conceded. During the argument, the girls had walked away, going about their daily business.

Shippo, ask your mother if we are almost there. a new dragon's voice suddenly said in Inuyasha's mind. He snapped his head around to look for the dragon that had spoken.

I told you, she's not my mother! a child cried. Not a dragon, but linked to a dragon.

Well, she acts like it! Just ask her!

A few moments of silence in his head, and then a laugh from a dragon. He's said that often enough, hasn't he?

Yes. A female voice. It was human.

I think it's Nakshu, though.

Yes, I know it is. Shippo knows better then to ask me the same question too many times. A laugh, from the human girl.

And then they came into view. Three dragons, each with riders. One was small, a hatchling, with a child rider, and it was an elvin dragon, he could tell. The other was a cat-like dragon with a dark-haired woman riding it. The third was a silver dragon with a beautiful young woman mounted on it. Somehow he knew it was the one who'd spoken last, the one that 'Shippo' - who was probably the kid on the green Elvin dragon - had asked how long it was to their destination, and whom his dragon - again, probably the green Elvin - had said was his mother.

He took a step towards the group, and they landed in the now-empty square.

"I'm glad no one's here. I'd rather not land in a crowd, or a forest." said the one riding the Silver as she dismounted. "And Nakshu? We're here."

The elvin dragon didn't look at her as the child descended. The child shot him a look. I told you she knew it wasn't me. he said mentally.

Inuyasha stepped up. "Who are you?" he asked.

The woman looked up, startled. "Oh, hello. My name is Kagome. This is Sango, Shippo, Nakshu, and Kirara." She motioned to each of her group in turn. "And this is my dragon Sionae." She patted the silver dragon on the back, pulled out a piece of something from the bag on her back, and handed it to her. The dragon snatched it and gulped it down.

Thank you. Sionae said, smiling a dragon smile.

"My name is Inuyasha. This is Miroku, his dragon Satsuuke, and my dragon Matsuke." Inuyasha said, also patting his dragon.

Kagome looked over at him, startled. Then she smiled. "I should have guessed. Sionae said you'd probably be here."

Inuyasha blinked. "What?"

"I'm the one who asked Sionae to speak with Matsuke when we saw you coming down from the mountain yesterday." Kagome said, walking forward.

"Oh, yes. Matsuke never told me your name, so I didn't recognize you." Inuyasha said. He half smiled at her, and shook her outstretched hand.

"Would Matsuke like some chocolate? Master Kaede told me how to make dragon chocolate." she said, pulling out another small piece of something from her bag.

"Is that safe?" he asked. Matsuke ran up and reached for it. Kagome laughed and handed it to him.

Of course it is, Inuyasha. said Kagome's silver dragon. I eat it all the time.

Well, maybe Matsuke's anatomy is different from yours! Inuyasha said, sticking his tongue out at the dragon. It was a childish action, and Kagome noticed it.

"So you can speak with Sionae?" she asked.

Inuyasha turned to her. "I can speak with every dragon unless they purposefully block me out. It's part of my title."

"I didn't know that. Kaede knew a lot about dragons and how to ride then, but not much about their masters. I had to find out on my own how to summon, so that I could teach Shippo." Kagome said as the kit leapt onto her shoulder, and she stroked his tail affectionately.

"It's the parents' job to teach them." Inuyasha said.

"Well, Shippo's parents were killed a while ago, and he's been staying with me." Kagome replied, pulling Shippo down into her arms.

"Um, excuse me, Lady Kagome, but..." Miroku leapt in between them. "Would you-"

He was cut off as Inuyasha punched him on the head, and he fell to the ground.

"Would I what?" Kagome asked, looking from Inuyasha to Miroku.

Inuyasha shook his head. "You don't want to know."

As Miroku stood up, he walked past Kagome to Sango. On his way by, he reached out his hand and was about to grope her, when...a hand snatched out and latched onto his. For a moment her thought it was Inuyasha's, but when the owner of the hand pulled him around, he was looking at Kagome.

"What were you doing?" she asked. Inuyasha was staring at her, too. Then he smirked.

"Ah, um, well..." Miroku tried, but gave up and shrugged.

Kagome threw him back behind her and shook her head. He was far enough away she wasn't in any real danger, and she said, "Don't try it again." over her shoulder.

Miroku nodded, and walked dazedly over to Sango. A few moments later, there was the sound of something hard and heavy falling on Miroku's head.

Kagome looked over her shoulder to see Miroku lying on the ground with Sango's giant boomerang, Hiraikotsu, on his head.

"I take it she didn't want to know, either." Kagome remarked.

"You know it." Inuyasha said, his focus going from the scene behind her to Kagome herself. Shippo had previously moved away to sit upon Kirara, and Kagome was now stroking his own dragon's head.

A little to the right... Matsuke mumbled in his head. Kagome smiled, and her hand moved over to the designated spot. Inuyasha blinked. Lucky, he thought. She was just guessing. But maybe...

Lady Kagome should give Miroku more of a chance. He really is a nice guy, once you get to know him. he heard Satsuuke saying to Sionae.

Kagome turned her head to look a glare at the imp dragon, who backed up slightly in submission, trying to make himself seem smaller.

When he doesn't try to grab my ass, then I'll give him a chance. Kagome's voice said in disgust.

Inuyasha blinked at her. Was she speaking to Miroku's dragon? And had she heard Matsuke? Only one way to find out - he had to ask.

"Can you hear them?" he questioned.

Kagome turned, startled, in his direction. "Well, yes. The only dragon I've ever not been able to hear is Kirara, and Sango says that she doesn't speak. I can't hear dragons when they speak exclusively to their masters, of course, but if they speak openly or directly to me, then I can." she acknowledged. "I have always have been able to. That's why Kaede took me on - I could speak to dragons before I was even bonded to Sionae."

Inuyasha stared a moment, then shook it off. "Well, no one told me, so how was I supposed to know?" he asked hotly at her questioning gaze. "Anyways, I've got to go to the Northern Mountains to get rid of those rogues, and I'm going to leave tonight at dusk. If you want to join us, go ahead, but don't expect me to help you. You'll have to watch your own ass."

And he turned and went back into the tavern to get some rest. Kagome blinked after him, and followed. She needed to get a room, anyways.

"Sorry, miss, but the room we gave these two young men was the last one." the inn keeper said apologetically, bowing his head. There was something about this woman that commanded respect where ever she went. Maybe it was the fact she had a small kitsune perched squarely on her shoulder, but he wasn't sure. "There is an extra room in their quarters, but you would need their permission to use it."

The woman smiled. "Don't worry. I don't mind. He will let us stay; we're traveling with him, starting tomorrow. We'll be sharing rooms often." she said, turning to walk away. She headed up the stairs as the landlord watched her. She was also very beautiful. Maybe that was it?

There was a knocking sound from the floor above, and the landlord heard a muted conversation. It was an argument. Over the extra rooms. 'I suppose he isn't as keen to sharing a room with her as she seems to think.' he thought with a small smile. There was some commotion, and the woman came back down in a huff, carrying the silver-haired boy behind her. He was the one who owned the room.

She tossed him roughly to the ground, and pointed at him. "Now tell him that Sango, Shippo and I will be staying in those rooms!" she commanded

The boy stuck his nose in the air haughtily. "I don't have to. It's my room! I could kick Miroku out if I wanted." he said smugly, adding a smirk to the ceiling. He wouldn't even look at her.

She froze. "Are you...comparing me to that...pervert?" she asked quietly, half hurt, half angry.

The boy turned to her at her tone, and his eyes widened. The landlord looked closely to see what had caught his attention, and saw that silvery tears were making their way down the girl's slim, pretty face.

"D-don't cry, Kagome. I hate seeing girls cry, don't cry." he started, standing up and taking a step towards her, his outstretched hand reaching for her.

She turned away, now angry. "I don't care." she said, insulted. She ran from the building, and the boy followed. 'Oh well, so much for the show.' the landlord thought, going back to work.

"Kagome...stop...wait!" Inuyasha called, running from the tavern. "Why do I even bother?" he asked no one in particular, hefting his speed up a notch to try to catch her anyways.

He found her deeper into the forest, stopped at the edge of a cliff. She was looking down over the edge at the rushing, turbulent waters below. Her hand was laid against the trunk of a tree, and she stiffened as Inuyasha approached.

"What do you want!" she asked, sounding annoyed.

"I was just...coming to get you. I...Why did you run away, wench!" His voice turned harsh. He hadn't know what to say, and so he'd insulted her.

"You're being a jerk." She didn't turn around, didn't even flinch at the insult he'd flung, but it did sting.

"I'm allowed to be a jerk. I'm the Dragon Master."

"Some stupid title doesn't give you any right to be a jerk." she replied, turning around finally. She threw a rock at his head, walking past as he caught it. "I had been planning to show you that," she started, raising her hand. The wind picked up, and the stone was wrenched from his had, skipping across the air and back to her before he could stop it, as she continued. "But I think I'll just keep it."

He stared at her retreating figure as she walked back towards the town, and was about to follow her, when she stiffened.

A high-pitched, keening scream was pulsating from the river below the cliff he was still on, and Kagome turned back to look at him. He saw an expression of horror in her eyes before he turned around, feeling a breeze flutter at his back.

He was suddenly face to face with a large, red, rogue dragon.

"Holy... - " Inuyasha started, but the dragon reached out a clawed paw and gripped his arm harshly. He screamed in pain, and Kagome saw blood splatter to the ground as the dragon dropped Inuyasha. The boy shuddered and tried to stand, but the dragon dropped beside him and buried its claws into his stomach, biting hard down on his side.

Kagome's eyes were wide and staring at the carnage before her. She'd never seen a dragon behave so viciously, and she watched for a moment, before another scream from Inuyasha forced her into action.

Without thinking, she pulled her bow from around her shoulder, and pulled an arrow from a quiver at her waist. She notched the arrow, and aimed at the dragon, firing at its leg.

It cried out as the arrow dug into its muscle, jerking back away from Inuyasha's mangled body. It wasn't seriously wounded, and so it tried to get back to its prey, gaining three more arrows in its back.

Deciding the boy wasn't worth getting shot at by this strange girl, it flew away unsteadily and plunged back down to the river below.

Kagome dropped her bow, running over to Inuyasha. She knelt beside him, pulling his head up. He groaned at the movement, but appeared to be unconscious.

Before she could think too much about it, she hoisted the boy up onto her shoulders, and very, very slowly made her way back to the tavern.


	19. Kindred Dragon

**INUYASHA**

Okay, this is pretty cool. Everything is explained in the story's beginning.

I thought I'd lost this! I was looking for it to pu in this story. I'm so glad I found it, but I was looking for something else when I did. Ironic, huh?

**Kindred Dragon**

Long ago, in a land far away from any you have ever been, there was a country. It was a beautiful country, with rolling hills and tall mountains, pristine lakes and flowing rivers, thick forests and open fields. The people were young in this natural, airy world of beauty, and they accepted the nature, took part in it. The valued the aspects of the flora and fauna of their natural world, knowing of no other way to live. This was a good thing, for their were many flora and fauna that would not have been accepted under our circumstances. There were elves and trolls, centaurs and dragons. There were fairies, and mermaids, and demons. Most of them were considered as people in their own right by the others, so everything was peaceful.

Now, every good country has it's faults, but those faults, like the beauties, are always in the eye of the beholder. Scattered between some countries are deserts, bogs, and barren lands. Sometimes these 'barren lands' are covered in a thick miasma fog, which make them uninhabitable.

There are seven legal countries on this continent. Mekai, Inutaiyoshoru, Kikuton, Kirataiya, Tou-Yii, and Bushino are the largest and most common, Niokon, Metokon, Riutukin, and Sassheto being hardly known.

There is a large, prestigious school in a forest in Kikuton that students from many other countries come to, to try to master their respectable arts. During the school year's teaching term - ten months is a term, and with five months in between, fifteen months makes up a school year - the students reside at this school, which is called the Midoriko Miko Hime (MMH) Academy, the upper grades going on to the second part of the building, referred to as the MMH University. The students usually travel home to their families during the Grace Term, their five-month break from school, or else the reside in the local towns until school starts and they are readmitted to class and the living quarters. Normally only youkai and human are permitted into this school, but this is not always the case. It's only because they won't enroll that they are not accepted.

This is the way the world works on this little continent, called Jidai. This little corner of a large, global ocean is were our story takes place. The story of a boy and a girl. As always, there is more to it then that, but this is still the story of a boy and a girl, their jouney, their ordeal, and their treasure...

"Does anyone know when the Hills of Wyi went into the Battle of Elves?" the teacher asked the class. "Kagome? Do you know?"

The young woman in the center of the class, whom every pair of eyes fell upon but one, blushed a little at having been called on, but her silvery blue eyes remained facing ahead at the teacher. "In the year 1264, also known as the year the battle over Mount Kukui in Mekai began, right?" she asked hesitantly. She heard a soft snicker, and thought she heard someone whisper "show-off" before she heard the sound of a heel on someone's toes.

"Yes, Kagome, that's correct. How did you know of the battle over Mount Kukui?. We haven't gone over that yet." The teacher only looked slightly surprised, and she smiled kindly when Kagome blushed again.

"Well, my mother told of the year of that battle, and when I read that it was the same year the Hills of Wyi went into the Battle of Elves, I kind of put the two together, and that's how I remember." Kagome said quietly, finally looking away from the teacher to her desk and open notebook.

"Well, that's a good way to remember, Kagome." the teacher said, causing Kagome to look back up at her.

"Yes, Namaki-sensei." she whispered, nodding her head.

"If any of the rest of you would like to try this way, go ahead. But if you don't think it would help, then I wouldn't advise it." The teacher turned back to the board and went about wiping away the chalk dust and writing. "Clean up your things, and push in your chair when you leave." she said to the class behind her. "You may talk quietly until the bell rings. Oh, and Kagome? Would you mind staying after to help me clean up a bit, or did you get homework from Kire again?"

"No, Namaki-sensei. I'd love to help." Kagome said. She tidied up her notebooks and pencils, sliding them into her satchel, and then walked over to the wash bin to get a small bucket of water and a rag to wipe down the board.

She walked up to the board and wiped down the remainder of dust and washed the board as Namaki filed some papers. When Namaki was done, she came over to see how Kagome was doing.

"I love to clean." Kagome replied. "I makes me feel like I really have a reason to work."

"Is that so, Kagome-chan?" Namaki replied. She added a 'chan' to all her students' names after class. "Well, we have visiting royalty from the castle coming this weekend, and I was wondering if you'd like to clean up the guest room. I would have some others help as well, unless you'd like to do it alone..."

"Oh, that sounds nice, Namaki-sensei." Kagome replied, delighted. "I'd love to!"

Kagome shook her head at the sight of the room in front of her. Next time Namaki asked her for a favor, she was going to have to ask for details...like how bad the room was.

Looking in, she could have sworn the room was adorned with all black decorations, but then she realized that it was just because of all the layers of solid black dust that covered everything.

With a sigh, she got to work. First she dusted down the walls and furniture, then went after the bed. She cleaned up the clothes and took them out for washing later. Cleaning might have been a fun pass-time, but this was a bit much!

After a few hours she heard a snicker from in the hall. She crept up to the door to see who was there. It was open a crack, and she opened it a bit farther to see out.

It was three kids from her classes. One she recognized as Inuyasha Taishono, the best student, but the worst kid. He was the smartest, and the strongest, but he didn't behave. He was a youkai - you could tell from the dog-ears on his head. The other boy was named Miroku Kazaana, and, while he was Inuyasha's best friend and not seen as a star student, kept up an innocent act for every second of his life. He was human, and training to be a buddhist monk. Oh yeah, and he liked girls.

The third was a girl with dark hair and violet eyes, Sango Taijiya. She had a look to her that reminded one of the panther. She was beautiful and lithe, and looked oh-so dangerous. And she was. You couldn't see it because she was wearing her back-pack, but she had a boomerang-bone attached to her back called Hiraikotsu, and she was one of the best fighters at the school. Kagome knew her; had spoken with her a few times, and had done a project with her for Herbs once.

They were talking about the royalty coming from the castle. The Kikuton castle. They didn't know that she was there, and they had stopped because they had seen the door and the subject had come up.

"I'll bet that no royalty besides me has ever spent more then one week in here. And they've never come back, either!" Inuyasha was saying. Kagome's eyes widened. She hadn't known he was royalty; he sure didn't act like it!

"Hai, Inuyasha." Sango said. "I'd like to see the day someone besides you tried to stand this school for more then a month."

"Be careful what you wish for." Kagome said, stepping from behind the door, hands around the bundle of cloth that had been the sheets (The ones on the bottom had been relatively clean, and they were the ones on the outside).

"What are you saying?" Inuyasha suddenly asked as he turned to her. "Are you implying that this person is going to stay here?"

"No." Kagome said. "I wasn't talking about the one who was coming. I don't even know who it is. I was just saying that you should be careful what you wish for; it might come true."

"Is the room that bad, Higurashi-sama?" Miroku asked, eyeing the flop of upper sheets that fell from the side of her bundle.

"Oh, it's worse." she said, shaking her head. "Taijiya, would you mind helping me? I won't hold it against you if you're busy, but..."

"We'd love to help, Higurashi." Sango said, smiling. Inuyasha snickered, and was about to say something, but Sango stomped her heel on his toes.

Kagome smiled. So that's where all the noise came from in her classes. "Oh, thank you. And you can just call me Kagome."

"Sure, Kagome-chan." Sango returned, taking the load of blankets from Kagome. She plopped them into Inuyasha's hands. "Wash room." she said. Grumbling, he walked away. "Miroku, you go with him. Wash those, and then come back here."

"Hai, Sango-sama." Miroku replied, walking after Inuyasha.

Sango followed Kagome back into the room. "Let's see what we've got in here."

A few hours, rags, and buckets of water later, Sango and Kagome emerged from the guest room. Inuyasha and Miroku had come back and helped them place the sheets, pillows, comforter, and the bedspread on the bed.

"Ack! I hate cleaning!" Inuyasha had grumbled every five minutes.

When they were done, they all headed to Kagome's room, which was the closest, and plopped down, each with a different spot. Inuyasha had the chair nearest the kitchen, Sango the one nearest the front door. Miroku was lounging on the left side of the couch in the middle, so he was beside Sango.

"Soda?" Kagome asked from the little kitchen alcove, a cellar door open before her, an icebox below. Every room had one.

"Yeah." Sango called from her spot on her chair. A grunt of agreement from none other then Inuyasha and a similar one from Miroku accompanied it. Kagome returned with two glasses of Sugar Melon Soda, handed them to Miroku and Sango, and went back into the kitchen. She came back with two more, and handed one to Inuyasha. She then sat on the floor, leaning back against the other end of the couch from Miroku, her head leaned back to look at the ceiling.

Inuyasha caught sight of a something small and shiny around her neck, but that was as much as he saw before she looked up at the sound of rustling clothe as Miroku stood. "Nani? Where are you going, Miroku?"

"I've got to get going." Miroku replied. "Sorry, Kagome-sama. Thank you for the soda, but I have a prior engagement with a friend." He wrinkled his nose on 'friend', so it made her think that he was probably obliged to go.

"It's all right, Miroku. Thank you for helping me with that room." Kagome smiled sweetly.

"It was nothing, Kagome-sama. Oh, Sango-sama? Would you join me?" Miroku asked, turning suddenly to the other female.

Startled, Sango blinked. "All right, Miroku. I guess." she said, standing up and following him out the door. "Goody-bye, Kagome-chan." she called over her shoulder.

The other two watched the door close. Then Kagome let her head fall back to the couch again.

"I'm so tired." she murmured. Inuyasha then caught sight of what it was around her neck, and his eyes widened in shock. His fist latched out and clasped around it.

"Nani!" Kagome cried, trying to pull back from the crazy boy. But he had turned his fist so he could get a good look at the metal around her neck.

He stared a moment at the delicately designed pendant. It was of an elegant dragon, tail curled up it's back, wings spread high over it's crest. In it's claws, held over it's chest, a faceted garnet jewel was clutched. It looked down it's snout, like royalty, at who-so-ever happened to stop to study it.

"What's that?" he asked. "Where did you get it?"

"Ah, my father gave it to me..."

Inuyasha pulled back his hand with nod, and stood. Then Kagome noticed the ring he wore. She snatched it in a similar fashion to how he had grabbed at her pendant, and held his wrist as she studied the ring.

It was made of the same metal as her own pendant was, and it was of a dragon like hers. It looked back snootily, clutching a garnet jewel to it's own chest. Where hers had looked slim and petite, and it made you think 'she' instead of 'he' or 'it', this one was more masculine.

"Wha...where...did you...get this?" she asked, her breath catching. Was it...possible?

"My father," he stated blandly, "has me betrothed to some matriarch in another country."

"Ah, I would hate that." she said dispassionately, looking away and dropping his hand.

"That's why I wanted to know. That symbol of the dragon is the seal of a truce between two countries, the kind usually bound by a marrage." he said with a smirk. "I've been trying to find a loop-hole in the treaty since I found out about it."

"Who?" Kagome inquired quietly.

"Who who?" Inuyasha asked.

"Who are you betrothed to? What other country? Why is there a treaty?" she asked, not looking at him. "Would you mind telling me?"

"No. I don't know her name, though. All I know is that she's from Mekai, and that she has a younger brother. Not much else. Ah, as for the treaty...I don't know. It didn't say anything about it on the document, and I've read it a couple thousand times. Sometimes I think they were both just trying to get their kids hitched and used a treaty to do it. My father and the king of Mekai, that is."

"I've never heard of a war between Mekai and Inutiayoshoru." Kagome still wouldn't look at him, and he was wondering what was wrong. "So maybe you're right." She turned a smile on him, finaly. "Did you know I'm from Mekai?"

"You wouldn't know the princess, would you?" Inuyasha questioned anxiously.

She shrugged. "Not really any more than you might, or Sango, really." she said evasively.

"Also, I was wondering how you came to pass of a jewel that important." he said, drawing back to a subject she wanted to stay off of. "You didn't steal it, did you?" He grinned evilly.

"No! I told you, my father gave it to me!" she cried, jumping back. She ended up spilling her soda all over the front of her clothes. "Ack!" She tried to dab at it with the clothe that was sitting on the nearby table, but it didn't come out. She would have to wash it then, and she would need a shower, too.

"Inuyasha, I'm going down to the bathing house. You can stay here while I'm gone if you'd like, as long as you don't make a mess, dog boy." she said with a smile as she walked to the door.

­

They were back in Namaki-sensei's class, later, and Sango had brought Miroku and Inuyasha over to invite Kagome to their table. She sat with Sango on her left, Inuyasha on her right. Miroku was on Sango's other side.

The teacher noticed Kagome sitting with them and smiled to her. The girl didn't have many friends, as Namaki knew, and she knew that this group would be kind to the girl. They were good kids, if not to the teachers.

"All right, students, since today is the last day before the two week in-school break, and I'm in charge of keeping track of you over this break, you're going to have to tell me where you intend to be. And after that, we might do something...interesting. No, Kichani, it doesn't have anything to do with classwork."

She went around the classroom getting a list of where everyone would be. You could stay at the school during this break, or you could leave.

When she got to their table, Inuyasha said he would stay here, at the school. Everyone else at the table agreed, and said that they might go down to check in the village near there.

Eventually she got back to the front of the classroom, after asking all the students where they would be over the break.

"Oh, class, I forgot to mention, but we're going to have another member of a royal family coming over this break. He'll only be here a few days, he's visiting someone, but I want you to be kind to him. He's younger then all of you, and he doesn't act like the prince he is. No, Inuyasha, he doesn't act like you, either." Namaki glared at Inuyasha a moment, before smiling.

"Namaki-sensei," Sango asked, raising her hand, "Who is it?"

"The prince of Mekai, Higurashi Sota. You will call him by his formal title, thank-you-please."

"Namaki-sensei," Miroku started, mimicked Sango, "Where will he stay?"

"With the person he's visiting. Now on with the game."

"And who is that?"

"I don't know, Kazaana. Now. On. With. The. Game."

"Kagome, what are you doing?" Inuyasha asked, leaning against the doorframe of Kagome's room.

"Cleaning."

"Why?"

"Because I have relatives coming to visit over the break."

"Really? Who?"

"My brother."

"What's his name?"

She smiled over at him. "You'll find out when he get's here." she said. "Want a soda?"

She didn't know how she was going to get out of things this time. How was she going to get around explaining who she was with her brother coming? Oh well, guess it's time to let the cat out of the bag, as they say.

"You know, Kagome, I think you're room is clean enough." Inuyasha said. She'd been at it all day since after Namaki's class, and that was before lunch. It was dark out.

"Mother will kill me." she muttered, closing her eyes and flopping onto the couch. "She's a neat-freak. I'm glad she's not the one coming, but my brother isn't going to come alone. Someone is bound to tell on me if this place is a mess."

Inuyasha came over and sat beside her. "Hey, I heard somewhere that Mekai is full of mikos, and I've been wondering. Are you a miko?"

"A little." Kagome said quietly, laughing. "My grandfather thinks he's a priest, with all his talismans and ofuda charms, though. He wants my brother to become a priest after him, but he doesn't want to."

"He? "

"My brother."

"Why don't you tell me his name?"

"Because you'll find out later."

She was dodging the subject, he knew. But he coulnd't get it out of her.

"You're stubborn, you know that?"

"So're you."

"I'm glad I'm on your good side."

Kagome cracked open an eye to look at him. "And who said that?"

She laughed. "Just kidding. I'm glad I'm on your good side, too. You'd be one heck of an enemy to deal with."

"So, what's your brother's name?"

"Not telling."

"The prince of Mekai is going to be arriving in a few moments." Namaki said from where she was standing by the road. Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango, and Miroku were there as well, waiting for Kagome's brother.

"I hope your brother get's here before that prince does. I hate royalty." Inuyasha said, wrinkling his nose.

"You are royalty." Kagome objected.

"All the more reason to dislike."

Kagome shook her head. "I'll never understand you."

"Here's the prince's carriage!" Sango cried, pointing. "I never get to see royalty!"

"Hey!" Inuyasha growled.

"You don't count." Sango muttered, looking back.

Kagome ran out into the road beside the carriage. "Kagome, what are you doing!" Inuyasha cried. She was going to get hit! Like a royal carriage would actually stop for her!

"Hey!" she called up at the door. "You can stop now!"

"She's crazy." Miroku muttered.

"She's homesick." Sango corrected. "She comes from Mekai, remember? She said she hasn't been home in a long time."

"That's no excuse to jump in front of a royal carriage!" Inuyasha snapped, nearly crazy with worry for the girl.

The door swung open on the carriage, and a little boy about eight wearing royal clothes leapt down into her outstretched arms. She ran her fingers through his hair, smiling. "I missed you." she said quietly. "It's been too long."

"Nee-chan!" the boy cried. "You didn't come home during the Grace Term! Momma was so worried!" He laughed. "You should have seen the look on the messanger's face! Inutaiyoshoru sent a young inu youkai messanger to get you during the grace term, but you weren't there! Momma wouldn't tell me why he came to get you, though."

"I know why." she said quietly, ignoring the boy's questioning look. She looked up at the carriage driver in front of her, and smiled. "You can take that around to the school, now. We'll go back together."

"Even after two years at school, you're still the same, Kagome-hime." the driver said, laughing at the sour look that crossed her face at 'hime'.

The four people still beside the road stood in shock as the carriage rumbled past.

"Oh, Inuyasha! I want you to meet my brother, Sota. I told you you'd learn his name when he got here." Kagome said, walking up to them with the boy-appendage on her arm.

"Sota-chan, this is Inuyasha, Sango, and Miroku. Sango-chan, Miroku, this is my little brother Sota. And Namaki-sensei, you can just call him Sota-chan, if you don't mind."

"Higurashi-sama gets boring." Sota said from her leg.

"Kagome-chan, why didn't you tell us!" Sango screached. They were back in Kagome's room. It had become the place they spent the most time in over the last week, since it was closest to most everything, and more stuff then anyone else's room, even Inuyasha's.

"Oh, well, you see...I just didn't want Inuyasha to know..." she said quietly. Inuyasha hadn't said anything yet.

"That's why you wouldn't look at me when I mentioned it." he said quietly, finally speaking.

"Yeah..."

"And that's where you got..."

"Yeah..."

"It doesn't matter, you know. You're still the same." he asid, looking at her finally.

"But if I had told you then, would I still have been the same? No, we wouldn't have gotten to be such friends if I had said anything about it."

"Did we miss something?" Sango asked, cutting in between the two, who blushed and looked away.

"I...A while ago, a few years back, there was a 'war' between Inutaiyoshoru and Mekai." Inuyasha said slowly. "Neither of us have ever heard of it...but I've certainly heard of the treaty."

"What was the treaty?" Miroku asked, grinning. He knew where this was going.

Inuyasha looked away again. "Betrothal." he said quietly. He held out the hand with the dragon seal on it. Kagome lifted her necklace, cringing at Sango's gasp.

"You mean...Really? You? When? How? What?"

"Yes, yes, yes, next year when I'm sixteen, I don't know, and we're betrothed." Kagome said quickly. "We already went over that."

"And...why?"

"We think they just wanted to hook us up. There was no war." Inuyasha said.

"That's what Higurashi-sama meant with the inu youkai messanger, wasn't it, then?" Sango asked.

"Just call him Sota." Kagome said. "He hates it when you do that. I think my mother is the only one who likes all the special attention...even father didn't like it."

"Please, Kagome, don't avoid the subject." Sango said.

"What do you mean, 'father didn't like it' ?" Inuyasha asked. "Past tense?"

"Inuyasha..." Sango muttered. "You're not helping..."

"My father...died a few years ago, didn't you hear about it? I would have thought you would, since my father and yours were such good friends and all." She spoke sarcastically, even though it was the apparent truth.

"Come on, guys..." Sango reached out a hand to her friends in a profitless gesture.

"Well, I guess they wanted to be closer friends." He also spoke sarcastically.

"Be serious for once..." Sango put her hand to her face. "Every single time..."

Suddenly Inuyasha perked up. "Hey, there's this coffee shop I found down by the library the other day, you wanna go check it out?"

"Wait a minute!"

"Sure!" Kagome said, and they stood up, nearly running from the room to get away from Sango.

She let out an exasperated sigh. "I would have expected this kind of thing from Inuyasha...but Kagome? Maybe they're meant to be together, after all."

Inuyasha and Kagome paused just down the hall, gasping for breath. "Man, I thought I might never get away!" Kagome muttered, putting a hand to her forehead.

"Come on, that coffee shop really looked nice." Inuyasha said, smiling to her. "They even had these faint incense burning. You'd like it."

She smiled to him. "Thanks. Let's go." They walked down the hall, hand in hand, towards the library, not noticing the looks they got from a certain youkai as they passed.

"Kagome is my woman, dog breath!" the dark-haired youth fumed, walking the other way. "You won't take her away from me!"


	20. Perfect by Nature

**INUYASHA**

This is a lovely little story that I jumped around a bit in. It makes sense here, but only with the notes I added in bold. You'll see what I mean when you get there, so don't worry. It explains itself, mostly. Enjoy.

**Perfect By Nature**

Kouga watched his mistress with trepidation. "Are you sure you should be doing this so close to the departure time!" he demanded as Kikyo let her robes fall to the ground. She climbed up the stairs to the small, yet extremely deep pond on the pedestal, before giving her guard a look over her shoulder.

"Of course I'm sure. It's very important, Kouga. I have something I must do."

With that, she put one foot carefully over the blue water, balancing her weight on it before taking another step. A single ripple drifted away from her each time her foot touched the water's surface, and soon she was standing in the center of the pond. She seated herself slowly, closed her eyes, and went into a trance.

Kouga watched her for a while after that, then leaned against the wall and slid to the ground. He could just see the top of Kikyo's head, and he was thinking about the trip they would have to make to the mainland later. He was frowning at the thought of meeting Inuyasha again when he leaned his head against the wall...

The blue skies that roared over him hadn't a single cloud to distract him. He reached out a hand and ran it over the green grass of the field he was in. He could just hear a stream in the distance, but the sloshing of water wasn't from a stream...

Kouga sat up with a start as something cold and wet hit his outstretched right leg. He pulled it back, looking down to see what it was. Had he fallen asleep? How stupid of him! It was his job to watch Kikyo all the time!

It was water that had hit his leg. It was spread all over the floor, and Kouga had an instant of panic, his thoughts racing, before he calmed himself again. It was just water, after all.

Just water.

...Water...

WATER!

Kouga leapt up, looking around. The only source of water was the pool, and Kikyo never slipped under. She never upset the water.

There shouldn't be water anywhere!

He turned to the pool, and his heart nearly stopped. There, lying at the bottom of the pool, was Kikyo. Her hair drifted around her slowly, and her head was falling to the side. Her arms and legs were lifted up slightly higher than her back or head, but she herself was floating stationary an inch above the bottom.

Kouga immediately slid into the water and hauled her out, throwing her to the floor and bending over her.

Then he realized he had no clue what he was supposed to be doing.

He slid his hand into his pocket and jerked out a cell phone, shaking it in case it was wet. He quickly dialed Kikyo's doctor in.

"Kaede! Kaede-baba! Please, hurry! Something's wrong with Kikyo-hime!"

Inuyasha was in his room when the news reached him. He'd been there for hours, his focus only on lighting and unlighting a candle with his magic, trying to force it to the point that he just had to think about it, when a young, red-haired boy appeared in his doorway.

"S-sir?"

Inuyasha's gaze snapped to the boy. "What is it!" he demanded, irritated. He had to pick up Kikyo at sunset, and he was using every last ounce of his time to practice magic. This boy was wasting that precious time!

"S-s-sorry, s-sir, but...L-lord Miroku wants to s-see you...The Lady Kikyo...she's ill..."

Inuyasha's eyes widened, and he stared at the boy, before turning to look outside and seeing the sun just touching the horizon. He cursed and sped out of the room, knocking the boy over as he passed, not bothering to apologize as he hurried to Miroku's room...

Kagome lifted her head slowly to look around the bush she was behind. Green leaves and twigs scraped her face, but there was nothing she could do. She couldn't make any sounds, or she'd be caught...

Suddenly in front of her was a grinning face. She leapt back, holding her rapidly beating heart and breathing heavily as her brother cried, "Found you!"

"Souta! Don't sneak up on your older sister like that!" she hollered, blushing in embarrassment. He'd found her so easily, and she hadn't made a sound at all!

"Aw, Higurashi, don't be so angry at him," a voice from behind her brother said. She looked around to see her friend Hojo standing there. "After all, the game was your idea."

Kagome crossed her arms and looked away. "Yeah, I know. I'm no good at this stuff anymore."

Hojo smiled at her. "I beg to differ, Kagome. You're very good...your bother's just better."

Souta beamed at him.

Kagome shook her head at Hojo, but she smiled, too. "You would be kissing up to my little brother, wouldn't you? Anyways, why are you here?"

"Why, I was just stopping by to deliver your groceries, Higurashi. Your mother couldn't make it to the store today, and she asked me to bring them over for her. Oh, and she also asked me to tell you that dinner is ready, and you can come inside now." He extended a hand and helped her up.

Kagome smiled at Hojo as they all walked inside. "Thank you, Hojo-kun," she said, then turned to her brother. She grabbed him around the shoulders and pulled him to her, letting one arm slip up under his neck as she moved the other over his head in a fist. Then she proceeded to give him a noogie.

"Ah! Sis, stop, that hurts!" Souta complained, but he was laughing.

Eventually Kagome let him go, but she didn't take her arm off his shoulder as they walked. "You did very good today, Souta. You're getting better and better."

"Thanks, Sis." Souta then turned to Hojo. "Ano, Hojo - "

Kagome gave his shoulder a gentle nudge. "Hojo-san." she corrected in a sisterly fashion.

"Hojo-san," Souta corrected himself without a blink, then continued. "Hojo-san, would you like to stay for dinner?"

Hojo turned and smiled at the little boy. "Thank you for the offer, Souta-kun, but I really must be getting home soon. Mother needs me to help around the store while she cooks dinner. But thank you very much for the offer just the same."

"You know, Hojo-kun, you're always welcome to stay for dinner," Kagome said as they reached the door. "Mother enjoys it when she gets to feed other people, and Souta really enjoys your company. I don't mind having you over, either."

Hojo looked at her for a moment, as if trying to see something else, but then he smiled. "Thank you, Higurashi. I'll keep that in mind." He waved as he left.

"Was that Hojo, dear?" Kagome's mother said from the kitchen as her two children came inside.

"Yeah, Momma," Kagome replied.

"Did you invite him for dinner?"

"Souta did, but he said he needed to get home. I told him he could stay anytime, though." Kagome pulled off her shoes and came into the kitchen.

"Good for you, dear. Are you hungry? I made dinner."

Souta came in then. "Yeah, Hojo told us."

"Hojo-san, Souta," Kagome corrected absently as she sat.

"Hojo-san." Souta's correction was just as lacking in attention. He sat, and they ate.

Somewhere about halfway through dinner Mrs. Higurashi asked her daughter if she was interested in Hojo. Kagome's only response was a blush, but Souta answered for her.

"Of course, Momma. You should see the way she looks at him." Souta grinned and put his hands under his chin, batting his lashes. He pitched his voice up in a childish imitation of his sister.

"Oh, Hojo-kun, thank you so much. We really enjoy your company, especially me. I - "

He was cut off as a cup smacked into his head. Across the table, Kagome sat there looking innocent, her place minus one cup.

"Sis! That wasn't fair! I was only joking!"

Kagome didn't turn to him, fingering the necklace around her neck absently. "So was I."

"You're jokes hurt!"

Mrs. Higurashi sighed.

"What does this mean, Miroku?" Sango asked, turning nervous eyes to the man beside her. He sighed.

"I don't know, Sango." Then he chuckled. "I just know Inuyasha won't be happy about this."

As if on cue, angry footsteps came pounding down the stairs. Inuyasha skipped the last six steps, landing on his feet and continuing towards the two in the center of all the machinery around them.

"What in hell's going on!" Inuyasha demanded before he'd even touched the floor. "What is this I hear about Kikyo!"

Miroku gave his friend a look, hiding his pity with annoyance. She'd broken his heart half a year ago...was it possible he still loved her? "Kikyo's been put into a stasis. No one knows how. Only Kouga and the Dr. Kaede, the woman he called for help, even know about it. Dr. Kaede says she put herself into a coma during a meditation, and she's been chewing Kouga out for the past hour on not noticing that anything was wrong." He grinned at the thought. He didn't like Kouga, Kikyo's guard for when she wasn't on the mainland. No one did, really.

"So what's the emergency, priest!"

Said priest made no attempt to answer Inuyasha's question, so Sango cleared her throat.

"Kikyo was supposed to be here tonight so she could be ready for a ceremony next week - you know that. Anyways, she can't come, but we can't just cancel the ceremony. It's for the aligning of the stars, a once-in-a-lifetime thing, you know all about it."

Miroku nodded his agreement. "So, you have one week." They started to walk away.

"One week for what!" Inuyasha demanded, glaring at their backs.

They both looked over their shoulders simultaneously. "To find a replacement," Miroku replied.

**Okay, here's where I stopped. I then skipped to the end and wrote it. In between, Inuyasha somehow finds Kagome and teaches her to act as if she's got Kikyo's power (which is easier than he knows because she really does), and they go through the big ceremony. Just after that, Kikyo comes back to herself. I just now wrote this next part because it's hard to explain unless it's a story, but it's a very important scene.**

Kagome was elated. Kikyo was back in health! She could go home, finally!

She ran down the halls, leaving Inuyasha behind in her chamber, and burst into the large room Kikyo was in. She even got to see the great princess in person!

Kikyo was lying in the center of a large, round bed, her head propped up on pillows. She looked pale, and it was hard for Kagome to imagine that she was any better than she had been during her week as a replacement, but then Kikyo opened her eyes. She spotted Kagome standing in the doorway, and smiled.

But something about the smile didn't seem right...Something was off...

Kikyo stood and walked over to Kagome, and Kagome got the sense that Kikyo thought she didn't like her.

'I have nothing but good will in relation to Lady Kikyo. She's a wonderful person. I'm only glad I could help all of these people get through the rough time without her.' Kagome thought, confused. Why wouldn't she like Kikyo?

"Are you feeling all right, M'Lady?" Kagome asked, but she didn't move as Kikyo came closer.

"Yes, I am fine." Kikyo reached out a hand and clasped Kagome's, making full contact.

Kagome could sense all of her emotions, and a blinding flash of light locked her vision, paralyzing her.

Kagome froze, her smile slipping off her face as she realized why Kikyo would think that Kagome hated her, and why the Lady's smile hadn't seemed right.

Kikyo wholly and truly hated her.

All she could feel was the grip of Kikyo's hatred and anger. She couldn't escape it, she couldn't let go, she couldn't move.

She heard Kikyo's voice as if from far away. "I am fine, and you can go home now. I never desire to see you again. You are free."

Kagome didn't know how long after that she remained, paralyzed by the strong feelings she'd felt from the Princess. But when she came to, Kikyo was gone, and Kagome's powers had been awakened. She could sense the aura of the castle, she could taste it on the air. It was suffocating her.

She needed to get out of there.

As the guards came to escort her home, she couldn't help peeking into their souls whenever they looked her in the eye. It was as if she had no choice. This blue-eyed man was worried about his sick wife at home; his heart wasn't in the castle. That green-eyed man was feeling very happy. He loved his job and all its aspects. This man here...

She refrained from looking at anyone's eyes for the rest of the way home. Her own mind was numb from this overload of information, and the first thing she did upon her arrival into her home was to sleep.

**I hope that was okay. It was spur-of-the-moment, but it did what I wanted it too, and it wasn't that bad. When she wakes up, she can't help seeing her family's souls, and she doesn't like it. They don't love her as much as she thought. They still care a little for her, but they believed that she found a high-ranking position in the Court of Lady Kikyo, and won't let them in on anything. Only her young brother and aged father care anything truly about her, and even that fades as the feelings of her mother and sisters, her uncle and cousins fill the air with dislike.**

**Eventually they all hated her.**

**And then Kikyo shows up again.**

**I had planned on making this next part the last chapter of the story, and then a prologue for a sequel, but I haven't yet. For crying out loud, I don't even have the middle written!**

It was a brilliantly sunny day. Light glittered off the shop windows, reflecting the endlessly blue sky. Everybody was excited and exhilarated, closing their shops early.

The Lady Kikyo was coming through town!

Kagome looked around apathetically. The last shop she needed to go to had just closed. She had nothing to do for the next hour...and Kikyo's merry band of guards was passing through town.

With a sigh, Kagome let the crowds draw her to the center street. She might as well watch, because it was what everyone would be talking about for the next week.

She ended up getting shoved up near the front, with the perfect view of both the direction Kikyo would be coming from and the dias she would stand on to give her speech. The people around her were giving off waves of joy, and her mood lifted a little, before she put a clamp over that. She didn't like being influenced by other people's emotions.

That was when she heard the cheering. It was also when she saw the parade of Kikyo's 'people' coming around the bend.

Her eyes instantly locked on the princess's, but Kikyo didn't really see her. Kagome watched her for a long time, thinking, 'It was only a few days ago when that was me up there.' Her depression mutliplied, and she bit her lip. She really missed it.

She remembered sitting there herself, above the crowds of people. She'd felt so nervous, and she realized now that it had been unnecessary, just like Sango'd said. She'd done fine.

And then there was an ache in her chest, for just then Kikyo had arrived at the dias and her guard was helping her out of the open-topped carriage she rode in on sunny days like this. Once Kagome had spotted Inuyasha, she felt the tears surface in her eyes, but she pushed them back down.

"No, I will not cry..." she murmured to herself. "I will not cry in front of either of them..."

She watched as Inuyasha extended his hand to her, but she didn't notice the distracted look he wore. She only remembered being there, having him watch her intently as he helped her from the carriage, as he gave her that little bit of encouragement, and she bit her lip.

By then Kikyo was speaking, but Kagome found it impossible to focus on her words. She was staring at Inuyasha, willing him to turn to her, yet begging him not to. She wanted him to see her...but she didn't want to know what he thought of her now that she was no longer needed to take Kikyo's place.

She didn't know how long Kikyo had been up there. If pressed later, she wouldn't have recalled anything the Princess had said. She didn't even know how she'd gotten from where she was to the foot of the dias. All she remembered was hearing a cheering all around her and realizing Kikyo wasn't talking anymore, and panic instantly hit. She had to do something!

And then she was standing at the base of the dias, and she'd cried out, "Wait!"

Kikyo turned to her, and Kagome instantly felt the cold fury, the hatred, burried in the princess's chest, even if Her Highness was looking at her kindly. Kagome gulped. No turning back now.

"What is it, Daughter of the Profit?" Kikyo whispered, her voice carrying dispite it's audibility.

"I...I'm lost, Your Highness," Kagome sobbed. She fell to her knees before Kikyo, suddenly loosing herself. "I have no place to go. My family...will not accept as they did. I cannot go back! Please, please help me..."

"Nonsense." Kikyo's voice was still kind, but Kagome could feel her hatred double. "Surely your family will accept you no matter what you do."

Kagome looked into the face of the princess and knew it was for naught. She would get no help from this icicle of a woman.

"B-but..." Kagome sputtered, trying to explain, to change Kikyo's mind, "Th-they accept me...but they expect so much more of me...I cannot keep up with their expectations." She couldn't bring herself to label her family as bad people, and hoped Kikyo would help her.

It was no use.

"Then you must tell them so. Bring the issue forth with your family before consulting me. Those who ask of what they do not need, even help, will not obtain it. I will not help you if you do not need my help. Now return home and tell your family of the problems you have."

'But they won't understand...'

**There's more I haven't written yet, but supposedly she speaks with Inuyasha. He decides to help her, and takes her back to the castle with him. He helps her find a place as a maid, and he helps her out. There is, of course, more of a plot, but as I haven't written the first book yet, I can't tell you. I have to put in a whole bunch of little hints, you know. I really would like to write this as a story in it's own right. Please tell me what you think.**


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